Matt Reeves directing Justin Cronin's The Passage

[roshiq]

According to Deadline, Fox 2000 has set Cloverfield's Matt Reeves up with directing duties on the long in-development adaptation of vampire apocalypse novel "The Passage." The film, based on the popular novel by Justin Cronin, is being produced by Riley Scott's Scot Free Productions.



The book is about an experiment that goes awry and creates a swarm of bloodthirsty vampires that brings the world to the brink of extinction and is said to be close in tone to 28 Days Later and Stepehen King's The Stand. In The Passage, a group of terminally ill cancer patients get healthy after being subjected to the bites of bats in South America. Naturally, the government see this as a cure for the disease and starts experimenting. They end up with a legion of nearly indestructible, telepathic vampire masters that begin infecting the populace.
Reeves will supervise a rewrite of a script done by John Logan. Logan's busy with the James Bond film, so they will get another writer in.

Fox acquired the book in 2007 for around $3 million right after Cronin made a 3-book deal with Ballantine for $3.75 million based on the first 400 pages of the book and an outline for a novel series.