Da Vinci action-adventure picked up

Warner Bros. have picked up a treatment by producer Adrian Askarieh (Hitman, the upcoming Kane & Lynch), entitled Leonardo da Vinci and the Soldiers of Forever. So says The Hollywood Reporter.

You’ll know who da Vinci is. He was, according to Wikipedia, a “painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer.” A genius, basically. He painted the Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper. Soldiers of Forever will take very different approach to the man, however – THR summarises Askarieh’s treatment as the following:

The project re-imagines Da Vinci as a member of a secret society who falls headlong into a supernatural adventure that pits the man against Biblical demons in a story involving secret codes, lost civilizations, hidden fortresses and fallen angels. Think “National Treasure” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” by way of “Clash of the Titans.”

It reminds me a bit of the game Assassin’s Creed II…and Askarieh has about 5 videogame adaptations on his list of IMDb credits…hmm…

It sounds interesting enough though – I just hope they take a more serious approach to it than the more “fun” / light-hearted historical adventures like Sherlock Holmes and The Mummy.

Askarieh is apparently looking for a writer as we speak. He will produce the project, teaming up with Roy Lee and Doug Davidson of Vertigo Entertainment (The Departed, How to Train Your Dragon, and many, many US remakes of Japanese horror films). THR notes that this is just another in a long line of period adventure films being developed by Warner Bros. (ever since Sherlock Holmes‘s success), in addition to the recently announced Marco Polo, Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur project, and of course, the Sherlock Holmes sequel.