Paramount Pictures announced today it has made a deal for Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Entertainment to do a big-screen adaptation of sister company Spike TV's original hit series "Deadliest Warrior." The announcement comes on the heels of the show’s Season 2 finale, which brought about exceptional ratings for the network. Spike TV has renewed the series for a third season.
This partnership by Paramount and Spike TV marks the first time that the Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) owned companies have worked together. “Spike has some of the most innovative and forward-thinking content on television today, “Deadliest Warrior” being no exception. The property has proven its ability to engage audiences across multiple platforms,” said Paramount Film Group President Adam Goodman. “We hope this is the first of much future collaboration with Spike.”
"Deadliest Warrior" pits history's greatest warriors against one another to determine who reigns supreme. Along with the use of 21st century science and the latest in CGI technology, the series enlists world-class fighters, historians and weapons experts to provide insight into the unique history and style of these combatants which culminates in a head-to-head final fight between two warriors to declare which one would have been the deadliest. The first two seasons showed such memorable battles as Spartan vs. Ninja, Viking vs. Samurai, Pirate vs. Knight, Yakuza vs. Mafia and Comanche vs. Mongol.
The film's storyline is being kept under wraps.
Shawn Levy and 21 Laps President Dan Levine will produce the film, with the possibility that Levy may direct. The property fits within Levy and 21 Laps’ ongoing expansion from family comedies to event action movies, following the “Night and the Museum” franchise and Levy’s current action drama “Real Steel” with Hugh Jackman for DreamWorks.
