Daily Variety reports that DreamWorks is in negotiations to snatch Paramount’s film rights to Ubisoft’s hugely successful video game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Clancy’s manager, controversial former Disney president Michael Ovitz, will remain producer.
The Splinter Cell game franchise centers on Sam Fisher, a member of an elite Black-Ops unit that infiltrates an international terrorist syndicate. To date, gamers worldwide have scooped up more than 12 million units of Splinter Cell titles, including the latest release, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
While this is the first game-to-film deal for Clancy, Hollywood has adapted a number of the best-selling author’s tech-heavy military intrigue novels, including The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears. Clancy has two other games series, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Very Bad Things) was originally assigned to direct Splinter Cell for Paramount, and even co-wrote a script with J.T. Petty, a writer for the game, and John J. McLaughlin (Man of the House). Should rights go to DreamWorks, the studio would put Daniel Pyne (The Manchurian Candidate) on scripting detail. Clancy will serve as exec producer, along with Ubisoft chief Yves Guillemot.
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