Warner Bros. Buys Jason Smilovic Pitch 'The Architect' (Exclusive)

6:00 PM PDT 5/12/2011 by Borys Kit

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The studio has acquired the pitch, set in 1840s Europe, from the writer of "Lucky Number Slevin."

Warner Bros. has picked up The Architect, a pitch from film and TV double threat Jason Smilovic.

Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas is attached to produce the chase thriller with Tyler Mitchell. Smilovic and Marisa Yeres are also producing.

The Architect is set in 1840s Europe and centers on an art thief who is on the run from an investigator determined to bring him to justice.

Smilovic’s first screenplay was Lucky Number Slevin, the crime thriller starring Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu. He then spent the ensuing years in TV land, developing and/or creating the NBC shows Kidnapped, Bionic Woman and My Own Worst Enemy. (Before Slevin, he also developed Karen Cisco, the TV spinoff of the Steven Soderbergh movie Out of Sight.)

Smilovic developed his relationship with Warners when he tackled Replay, the studio’s adaptation of the long-gestating Ken Grimwood book. His draft attracted Robert Zemeckis and also got him working with the project’s producer, Goldsmith-Thomas (Mona Lisa Smile, Bandslam).

Smilovic is repped by CAA and Madhouse Entertainment.