Stuart Beattie to Write and Direct 'I, Frankenstein' (Exclusive)

Stuart Beattie has come aboard the Lakeshore Entertainment project I, Frankenstein as writer and director. The filmmakers are looking to a fall shoot.

A Darkstorm Studios graphic novel created by Kevin Grevioux, I, Frankenstein pictures a modern-day world where the classic literary monster stands between humans and a host of other supernatural creatures looking to rise up and take over. Grevioux co-created the successful werewolves-vs.-vampires series Underworld, also produced by Lakeshore.

Beattie most recently wrote and directed the Aussie-centric teen action drama Tomorrow, When the War Began, which broke box office records in Beattie's native Australia when it opened last fall. The impact of the film's war scenes likely drew Lakeshore execs to Beattie, who was making his directorial debut. The writer-director is expected to shoot back-to-back sequels to TWTWB, all of them based on a popular series of novels by John Marsden, but that has been pushed off into the future.

Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg and Richard Wright are producing I, Frankenstein for Lakeshore. Grevioux, who first penned the adapted screenplay, will serve as an executive producer.

The CAA-repped Beattie also recently co-wrote G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Australia and 30 Days of Night. He has a screenplay for a new Tarzan feature in development at Warner Bros.

Lakeshore recently produced The Ugly Truth, Elegy and Untraceable.