Summit Entertainment has acquired the rights to “Breed,” a novel by Scott Spencer writing under the name Chase Novak, the company announced on Monday.
Summit has hired Burr Steers (pictured) to write and direct the horror thriller, which David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Heyday Films will produce.
The novel follows a couple who undergo an experimental fertility treatment that turns them into bloodthirsty savages, leading them on a quest to find a cure.
Spencer has written 11 novels, and is best known for “Endless Love,” which has sold over two million copies and garnered a nomination for the National Book Award.
The book is Summit’s second deal with Heyday Films, following the studio’s acquisition of all worldwide film and television rights to “The Night Circus” in January 2011.
Erik Feig, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s president of production, Geoff Shaevitz, Summit Entertainment’s president of production, and Jina Jones, Lionsgate’s director of development, will oversee the project for Summit. Robert Melnik, Lionsgate’s executive vice president of business affairs, negotiated the deal on behalf of the studio.
