Paul W S Anderson takes on The Warded Man

Paul W. S. Anderson and longtime producing partner Jeremy Bolt have acquired film rights to Peter V. Brett's debut fantasy novel The Warded Man, according to MovieWeb.

Anderson is attached to direct and will produce with Bolt. Stephanie Johnson, who brought the title to the pair, will executive produce.

The book is set in an undetermined future where mankind is beset by nightly attacks from demonkind and has been thrown back into a feudal state. Three young people emerge with the potential power to turn the tide, including the title character, a man who has wards (spells) tattooed on his body.

"It was an occasion where it paid to be British," Anderson said. "It launched in the U.K. six months earlier than in the U.S., and we got wind of it when it was in galley form before the U.K. release. We think it has the potential to be a new 'Lord of the Rings'-style epic, and the book has all this great imagery."

Novelist Brett was an ad man with a two-hour commute to Manhattan; he wrote the book on his BlackBerry.

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Death Race in Court

There has been a lot of whoo-hah over Watchmen possibly being delayed due to disagreements between studios. Now it looks as if Paul W.S. Anderson's latest may be hitting the brakes (see what I did there?)

That's right. Death Race may be going to court.

Filmstalker have the story:

Adam Stone is a writer who is claiming that he pitched his script for a film called Joust to Paul W.S. Anderson and the producer Jeremy Bolt, after which they made a copy of it, returned it with a no thank you, and then made Death Race from it.

Stone claims, according to The Hollywood Reporter through Bloody Disgusting, that Death Race has been copied from his script and that he can prove it with at least thirty nine elements which mirror his screenplay.

Interesting news, especially due to the fact that the movie appears to be getting the best reviews of any Paul W.S. Anderson movie.

Discuss in the forum.