Universal has set July 1, 2011, for the release of "Battleship," confirming Peter Berg as helmer of the live-action pic based on Hasbro's naval combat board game.
Deal is part of a two-picture pic pact Berg has made with U, where he'll follow "Battleship" with an Afghan war drama "Lone Survivor."
Universal's date declaration positions "Battleship" to become the second film release from the studio's multiyear deal with Hasbro to turn its classic games into features.
"Battleship" is the latest in Universal's strong push toward branded entertainment films, and Hasbro has fast become an increasingly important cog in that campaign.
Scott Stuber and his U-based Stuber Pictures will produce "Battleship" alongside Hasbro's Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir, Berg and his Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey. Script was written by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber ("Whiteout").
For Berg, the picture realizes a passion for ship-bound war stories that he picked up from his naval historian father.
"I've been consumed with doing one of these since I tried to convince Tom Rothman at Fox to make a film about John Paul Jones, the founder of the American Navy," Berg said. "As a kid, I was dragged from Navy museum to museum, and spent so much time on ships, listening to my father talk about the great battles of WWII, I did my high school thesis on the Battle of Midway. When this came up, it didn't take me long to find a take for a film that is filled with raucous action-packed naval battles."
Berg made something of a quid pro quo pact with the studio to follow "Battleship" with "Lone Survivor," a fact-based story he scripted about a Navy SEAL team that is sent to Afghanistan and is ambushed.
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Source-Variety
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