Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots and his WedgeWorks banner have picked up the Kirsten Bakis novel “Lives of the Monster Dogs,” says Heat Vision. Adam Kline will write the screenplay for the film, which Wedge is eyeing as his live-action directorial debut.
According to the trade, the story “revolves around a group of soldier dogs genetically engineered by mad Prussian scientists hiding in a Canadian village. The hyper-intelligent dogs, who walk erect and use voice boxes to communicate, revolt against their masters and, dressed in 19th century formal wear, show up in modern New York. The book is told through the eyes of a NYU student who becomes the chronicler of the dogs’ glamorous lives, which, as they revert to their animal states for longer and longer periods, turn tragic.”
WedgeWorks will develop the project before bringing it to 20th Century Fox, with whom it has a production deal.
Wedge is in production on The Legend of the Leaf Men, based on the William Joyce children’s novel “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.” Kline is coming off a rewrite of Artemis Fowl and recently was hired to write Escape From the Planet Earth, both set up at The Weinstein Company.
