Summit Taps 'Bad Santa 2' Writer for 'Area 52' Duties (Exclusive)

Johnny Rosenthal has been tapped to pen Area 52, Summit’s adaptation of a sci-fi comic book created by Brian Haberlin.

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Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing the project. J.C. Spink, Chris Bender and Jake Weiner executive produce via Benderspink.

The story follows a group of misfit soldiers stationed at a remote military base in Antarctica known as Area 52 that guard a storage facility in which top-secret, other-worldly technologies and weapons are kept and analyzed. A murderous alien, hatched from an artifact, stalks the soldiers, who must defeat it.

The project has been in development at several studios and production companies almost since the comic was published in 2001. Summit picked it up last year, and Rosenthal is starting from a clean slate.

Lionsgate’s production president Erik Feig and Summit’s vp production Meredith Milton are overseeing for the studio.

Di Bonaventura is in production on Red 2, with Bruce Willis toplining an all-star cast. Benderspink has the Steve Carell-Jim Carrey comedy Burt Wonderstone in the can at New Line and is in production on the comedy We’re the Millers.

Rosenthal, repped by Paradigm and management firm Apostle, is writing the screenplay for Bad Santa 2.