Ridley Scott To Direct Vampire Film?

Variety is reporting that Star Trek: Nemesis screenwriter John Logan has been brought on-board to write an adaptation of The Passage, a nearly 1200 page vampire novel written by Jordan Ainsley (the pseudonym of Justin Cronin). Fox 2000 are developing the vampire film for Ridley Scott to possibly direct, which would see him and Logan work together for the first time since 2000’s Gladiator.

Two years ago Fox 2000  paid an undisclosed seven figure sum for the rights to The Passage, the first in a a three-series book about the unleashing of bloodthirsty vampires. The rights were sold based on the first 400 pages of book, along with an outline, but the film adaptation has waited while the rest of the book was being completed. From Variety, here is the synopsis of The Passage novel:

“Terminally ill patients become healthy after they are bitten by bats in South America, and the government conducts secret tests on human subjects to see if the virus can cure illness. The result is an apocalyptic unleashing of bloodthirsty vampire test subjects that include death row inmates.”

Sounds like an interesting twist on the prolific vampire horror sub-genre. Getting Scott to direct the adaptation certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea, and I hope he commits to the project, as I’d love to see what he’d do with a vampire story. If anyone is going to be given a pass from people for directing yet ANOTHER vampire film, it’s the legendary Mr. Scott.

But if Scott does commit to The Passage, will it be his next project? He’s got a lot in the works: He’s already confirmed to be directing the upcoming Alien prequel (which should be the director’s priority, IMO); there’s word of an adaptation of the classic book Brave New World for him to possibly direct (as well as produce); he’s had a Monopoly movie in the pipeline for a while now; and on top of those, his IMDB lists a project called The Kind One for 2010, set to star Casey Affleck as an amnesiac in 1930’s Los Angeles, who works for a violent mobster. Added to ALL OF THAT, Scott has a host of producing duties on the horizon, so who knows what will follow his Robin Hood film (currently in post-production).

Along with writing Scott’s Gladiator, and the mentioned Star Trek: Nemesis, Logan’s writing credits also include Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai, The Aviator, and the upcoming projects Bioshock and Rango. Along with Scott (if he ends up directing), The Passage will mark the first time he’s written a vampire film, although he got close with his second written feature, Bats! (oh boy was that bad…).

What do you think of the prospect of Ridley Scott directing a vampire movie? Is Logan the write guy to adapt The Passage novel? And what do you make of the synopsis for it?

The Passage currently doesn’t have a release date.

Source: Variety

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