PHOEBE GALLAGHER
Tom Cruise is starring in and producing Universal’s new “Van Helsing” movie, developed and produced by proved box-office winners Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (“Star Trek”, “Transformers”).
Cruise, Orci and Kurzman also collaborated on the last couple of “Mission : Impossible” movies.
Cruise has been flirting with the film since 2010, at which time Guillermo Del Toro was being courted to direct. When Del Toro turned down the picture, Universal went cold on the idea.
Orci and Kurtzman’s “Van Helsing” deal was revealed in a press release issued by Universal this morning. According to the release, the duo will also produce the reboot of “The Mummy”.
“Alex and Roberto are extraordinarily talented writers and producers who know the value of a great story in building successful tentpole films,” Uni chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley said in a joint statement. “They have been a major part of some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and television shows in recent history, and we’re eager to have them build on that success at Universal.”
“We’re thrilled to call Universal Pictures our home,” said Kurtzman and Orci. “From the moment we sat down with Adam, Donna, Peter, Jeff and the entire Uni team, there was an instant flow of inspired ideas. They really understand the importance of building a strong creative team and giving our shared projects their full support. We’re proud to start making movies that will live as part of Universal’s enduring legacy.”
Kurtzman and Orci’s upcoming projects include writing Sony’s next installment of ”The Amazing Spider-Man”; producing ”Now You See Me,” for Lionsgate Summit, set for release in March 2013; and producing Orson Scott Card’s ”Ender’s Game”, also for Lionsgate Summit. Kurtzman and Orci wrote and produced ”People Like Us,” which marks Kurtzman’s directorial debut and is scheduled to be released in June 2012, and wrote and produced the second installment of ”Star Trek”, set for release in 2013. The pair most recently rewrote ”All You Need Is Kill” for Warner Bros., with Tom Cruise attached to star, Doug Liman to direct and Erwin Stoff to produce.
