Joel Silver's Silver Pictures has preemptively bought rights to Orson Scott Card's new book and videogame series, EMPIRE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Provo, Utah-based Chair Ent. Group is the underlying rights holder.
Set in a near future after the White House has been bombed, the president assassinated and a civil war has broken out, a lone spy, who is being framed for the attack, sets out to uncover the truth. Brothers Donald and Geremy Mustard of Chair and Card have developed game prototype based on the novel, which is due out on Nov. 28, 2006.
Card and Donald Mustard will exec produce with Navid McIlhargey and Dan Lin overseeing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, respectively.
"I couldn't think of anyone in Hollywood that could make this story better than Joel Silver," Donald Mustard said to the trade paper. "He gets the franchise. He understands the story. And I think he's really good at not just cross-marketing a franchise, but making this type of a film."
The release strategy finds the first novel followed by a comicbook series, which will serve as a prequel to the book. The film will come next, followed by the videogame.
"This approach allows us to craft a very intricate story across multiple mediums," Mustard added. "The book franchise tells a great book story, but you can get way more detail in the comic book franchise than you could ever get in a book. We can do so many different things in the video game that you could never do in a book or a movie. These things will all work in conjunction to support each other."
Card plans to write the story for the videogame, which Chair Ent. will develop. He will also collaborate with the comic creators as well.
Silver Pictures is looking for a screenwriter.
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