‘Annabelle’ Writer Working On Dan Trachtenberg’s Time Travel Heist Movie ‘Crime Of The Century’
Following the viral hit of the short filmPortal: No Escape, Universal Pictures and screenwriter-turned-producerChris Morgan(Wanted, Fast Five, 47 Ronin) quicklyacquiredDan Trachtenberg’s time travel action heist filmCrime of the Century. Trachtenberg has been actively developing the idea into a movie since the 2011 acquisition with screenwriterDaniel Kunka(12 Rounds), while trying to get aY: The Last Manmovie adaptation off the ground at New Line and finally getting agreenlightwith the mysterious Bad Robot filmValencia.
Now it seems like the heat is back on at Universal to get Crime of the Century into production, and the studio hashiredscreenwriterGary Dauberman, who recently wroteThe Conjuringspin-offAnnabellefor Warner Bros. Find out more about the project and the new Crime of the Century writer, after the jump.
Dauberman has been active polishing a lot of scripts recently (uncredited), includingInto the Storm, Watching Hourand the latest installments ofNightmare on Elm StreetandFinal Destination. Dauberman broke in by selling his spec scriptBurst, about a group of people holed up in a remote lodge during a blizzard who “must figure out a way to survive after they begin spontaneously bursting”, to producerSam Raimiand directorNeil Marshall(The Descent).
Not much is known about the project, but the story revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist: a group of thieves using time travel to pull off “the crime of the century”. I know more about the story and lets just say this is just the tip of the iceberg — its an incredible concept, which is why Universal bought it almost entirely on the idea alone.
Some of you might recognize Trachtenberg from hisappearances on the /Filmcast. More people know Dan from his popular internet television showthe Totally Rad Show. Trachtenberg has been directing commercials for the last few years, slowly working towards his feature film directorial debut.
He directed a horror short film"More Than You Can Chew"for Black Box TV and a spec short film based on the video gamePortaltitledPortal: No Escapewhich was seen by almost 15 million people and became the #2 highest rated video of all time on YouTube’s Film and Animation section. If you havent seen both films, I highly recommend you check them out now. The two short films catapulted Trachtenberg into meetings all around town, and his first project to get purchased wasCrime.
