While on a press tour for ‘Woman in Black,’ screenwriter Jane Goldman let out that she will be adapting the comic book ‘Nonplayer’ for the big screen.

The reveal came when she was asked whether she would be penning the sequel to ‘X-Men: First Class’ (as she had written the screenplay for the first one) to which she replied coyly, “That’s not certain yet. But I’d like to, and (director) Matthew (Vaughn) would like me to.” It was then that she explained that although she would like to write the script to the sequel, she does have other projects on her plate.

“I’m working on a sci-fi project for Warners (Bros.). It’s called ‘Nonplayer,’ an adaptation of a really wonderful comic that just won the Eisner for (Best) Newcomer…It’s futuristic, it’s incredible…Science fiction is not a genre I’m used to, but it’s my favorite.”

Written by videogame concept artist Nate Simpson, ‘Nonplayer’ is a six issue comic book series which debuted in last April. Here’s the synopsis of the comic from the Nonplayer website:

Mid-21st century America doesn’t have much to offer Dana Stevens, but there’s plenty for her to live for inside Warriors of Jarvath, the world’s most popular full-immersion online game. In the real world, she’s a tamale delivery girl who still lives with her mom, but inside the game she’s an elite assassin. When she gets the drop on King Heremoth, a celebrity non-player character, she thinks she’s finally got a shot at fame. But when she slays Queen Fendra, the King’s reaction is disconcertingly realistic. Something’s amiss in Jarvath, and the effects may reverberate well beyond the boundaries of the game.

At the moment, only one issue of the comic series has been published which follows the consequences of Dana Stevens’ actions in the game Warriors of Jarvath in both her real and virtual online game worlds.

Before she can start writing on ‘Nonplayer’, however, Goldman first has to finish ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,’ which she’s been penning for Tim Burton and has another sci-fi film in development called ‘Anubis’, which is a sci-fi romance film that is currently on hold due to a lack of director for the film and a possible conflict in her schedule.

‘Nonplayer’ is being set up to be a potential tentpole movie and has Roy Lee (‘The Ring’, ‘Woman in Black’, ‘7500’) and David Heyman (‘Harry Potter’ series, ‘Gravity’) as executive producers. No director or cast has been named to the project as of yet.

Source: The Playlist