Angelology

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Sony Pictures Entertainment came out on the side of the angels late Friday, winning a multiple studio bidding battle for "Angelology," a first novel by Danielle Trussoni that sold for high six-figures this week to Viking.

Deal reached seven-figures, and the picture will be a co-production between Will Smith and James Lassiter's Overbrook and Marc Forster, the "Quantum of Solace" helmer who will produce through his Apparatus banner.

Overbook's Lassiter and Ken Stovitz and Brad Simpson of Apparatus pursued the property with Columbia execs Ange Giannetti and DeVon Franklin. Giannetti is Col's exec on "Da Vinci Code" and the upcoming sequel "Angels & Demons."

Several studios began chasing the title right after the pub deal and by Wednesday evening, offers began coming in. The town sparked to the book partly because of the pricey publishing deal, but also because the story is very cinematic, a cross between "Da Vinci Code" and "National Treasure." Also, Trussoni is definitely writing one sequel book, and possibly two.

Trussoni previously wrote the memoir "Falling Through the Earth."

Three studios were in the middle of it through Friday, as Sony vied against Warner Bros. (with "Da Vinci Code" scribe Akiva Goldsman's Weed Road) and Universal (for "Da Vinci Code" producer Brian Grazer at Imagine Entertainment).

"Angelology" revolves around a 23-year old nun, who teams with an angelologist named Verlaine as they race to thwart a group that tries to corral the destructive powers of a race of angel/human hybrids called Nephilim. Their goal is to destroy mankind. Verlaine starts out working for the bad guys--who then tried to kill him--before he teamed with Sister Evangeline in a search for ancient artifacts that are the only things that can stop the Nephilim.

The book is steeped in mythology and historical Biblical references, but the ingredients are there for a spiritual thriller.