Although writer Jordan Ainsley is almost completely unknown, in 2007 a 397 page outline of his unfinished book, The Passage, sparked a five-day bidding war between four major studios, and he also landed a $3.75 million publishing deal with Ballantine. That was over two years ago, and yet there’s still no publication date set for the 1,200 page, futuristic vampire movie.
Despite that, plans for a movie version are moving ahead, with Variety reporting that Gladiator scribe John Logan now set to write a screenplay based on the book, with plans for Ridley Scott to direct. The Paaage itself is about temrinally ill patients who become well after being bitten by bats in Souther America, which leads the government to conduct secret tests on prisoners to see if the virus can cure illness. However what they actually unleash is an apocalyptic plague of bloodthirsty vampire test subjects.
Logan’s other movies include The Last Samurai, Gladiator, Any Given Sunday, Sweeney Todd and The Aviator. It should be noted that while Scott is currently attached to direct, as he’s got a lot on his plate at the moment, including Robin Hood, producing the A-Team, putting together an Alien prequel and various other projects, there’s no guarantee he’ll actually helm The Passage.