Melissa Rosenberg Takes Over Summit's 'Highlander' Script (HR)

After tackling vampires in Summit’s Twlight Saga, writer Melissa Rosenberg is tackling a different kind of immortal being: Scottish highlanders.

The scribe is in negotiations to come on board to work on the studio's remake of Highlander. Neal Moritz is producing the project, which offers an update on the 1986 movie starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown. Justin Lin (Fast Five) is attached to direct. Peter Davis is also producing.

The original story centered on a Scottish swordsman, who discovers he is part of a secret race of near-immortal beings and faces off against an unstoppable barbarian who covets the power gained from there being only one of their kind left.

Summit acquired remake rights to Highlander from Panzer/Davis Productions, producer of the original film, in 2008. Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote the initial draft while Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Sellek Wibberley also worked on the script.

Wth her Twilight connection, Rosenberg may seem an odd choice for writing the action remake. But as the sole writer on Summit’s vampire pentalogy, she has proved adept at handling both character and action, as well as yearning, a key component of Highlander as protagonist Connor MacLeod watches his true love age while he does not. Before tackling Twilight, Rosenberg was a writer/co-executive producer on Dexter, the Showtime series that darkly balances family with bloody carnage.

Rosenberg is managed by UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 opens Nov. 18.

hollywoodreporter