New Line Hires Relative Newcomer to Pen 'Rampage' Movie (Exclusive)

Ryan Engle has been tapped to pen New Line’s big-screen adaptation of 1980s video game Rampage.

The game revolves around a trio of mild-mannered humans who are mutated into a giant Godzilla-like lizard, a werewolf and a gorilla, respectively, and fight the military while destroying buildings. Players controlled the monsters and moved up levels when a city was destroyed.

John Rickard (Final Destination 5, Horrible Bosses) is producing.

Rampage is a priority for New Line, which is hoping to make an Independence Day-style picture on a smart budget.

Engle is a relative newcomer to the screenwriting trade -- until last year, he was an exec at Kopelson Entertainment and began moonlighting writing scripts.

He worked with Louis Leterrier on a rewrite of A Killing on Carnival Row, but it was his thriller On a Clear Day that won him attention. The script made it onto the Black List and is now being developed as a directing vehicle for Jaume Collet-Sera (Unknown). Clear Day also led to an overall deal with Intrepid Pictures.

Engle is repped by Original Artists and Mosaic.