Universal has picked up a spec script, The Knights Templar, by Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley, for filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov and Marc Platt to produce.Platt will produce via his Universal-based Marc Platt Prods. while Bekmambetov, the Russian director of the Night Watch movies and Universal's upcoming comic-book action film Wanted, is producing with Jim Lemley, his partner at Bazelevs Prods.
The script, a period piece, revolves around the Knights Templar, who fresh from the Crusades fend off an invading vampire army seeking to destroy the Holy Grail.
Torchia is a 10-year veteran of Universal's story department who has been writing on the side. He met Stanley at a wedding several years ago; once they discovered that they were kindred writing spirits, Stanley told him of an idea that a late pal of his, Ian Rothkerch, had for a movie. The duo finished the script in the summer but held off because of the WGA strike, though not before Torchia managed to sell another spec, Strange Magic, to Alcon.
After the strike, Knights made its way to Universal senior vp production Scott Bernstein and Adam Siegel at Marc Platt Prods. Both will oversee.
The deal signals a vote of confidence in Wanted by Universal and shows that the studio is keen to keep Bekmambetov in its fold.
This is a direct rip off of Dracula vs. King Arthur. I hope the Beraneks know about this, they've been working on that movie for years.
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