April 15, 2005 - Screenwriter du jour Stuart Beattie is rewriting the game-to-film adaptation of Spy-Hunter, according to today's Variety.

Beattie, who wrote Collateral and received a story credit on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, will revamp the screenplay for the Universal-based project which has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to star. John Woo will direct.

Universal had hired X2 and Elektra scribe Zak Penn to brush-up the script, but that apparently didn't come out satisfactorily.  Previous writers that have contributed to the project include 2 Fast 2 Furious scribes Michael Brandt & Derek Haas and Freddy Vs. Jason writers Mark Swift & Damian Shannon.

For Beattie, this is the second screenwriting gig he's scored in as many days. Yesterday, he was linked to Moulin Rouge helmer Baz Luhrmann's next project, an epic romance in the vein of Gone with the Wind.

In the film, The Rock will play former F-15 pilot Alec Sects who is recruited by an elite government agency to become a Spy-Hunter. His mission is to bring down a cartel seeking world domination. Using his fully-armed vehicle, the G-6155 Interceptor (it can morph into various configurations), he pursues the bad guys who have tricked-out rides of their own.

Universal is aiming to make Spy-Hunter a tentpole release in Summer 2006.

Woo and production partner Terence Chang are producing along with Chuck Gordon and Adrian Askarieh.

An FX test shot from Spy-Hunter