Will Block and Jake Emanuel are two young, up-and-coming screenwriters who attended Emerson College together.
I've met Emanuel (right) a few times at various Emerson-centric parties and he's always seemed to really know his stuff, so I knew it would be only a matter of time before he and his writing partner "made it" in Hollywood.
Sure enough, Paramount has pre-emptively picked up the pair's pitch for an original, high-concept action-adventure movie in the vein of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films that will follow the framework of Victor Hugo's 1831 classic novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Di Bonaventura Pictures has confirmed to TheWrap.
The company's Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian will produce the project, the details of which are being kept under wraps, though expect Quasimodo and Co. to go the way of "Sherlock Holmes" and soon, "Gulliver's Travels" and "The Three Musketeers."
Hugo's story centers on a deformed bell-ringer of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris and his tragic romance with a gypsy named Esmeralda.
Block and Emanuel's comedy spec, "F— You I Win," first garnered them meetings around town, and the duo previously did some work for the Jim Henson Co., although I'm not sure whatever happened with that. They are represented by CAA and Energy Entertainment.
Di Bonaventura Pictures is currently in production on "Transformers 3." The company's "Salt" will look to shake things up at the box office on July 23, while Summit will distribute its action thriller "Red" on October 15.
