Constantin ready to draw 'Blood'

Burke adaptation fast tracked

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Armed with a first draft script by "Final Destination" scribe Jeffrey Reddick, Constantin Film and the Wyle/Katz Co. are on a fast track to turn the Jan Burke novel "Nine" into a feature called "Blood Lines."

Published by Simon & Schuster, "Nine" pits an L.A. homicide detective protag against a vigilante who's knocking off the top 10 fugitives on the FBI's most wanted list. The public loves the crime spree, but the cops are concerned that the killer and his co-conspirators pose a larger threat than the fugitives they are killing. Burke, an Edgar Award-winning author, hit the bestseller lists with "Nine" last year.

Wyle/Katz is run by "ER" star Noah Wyle and James C. Katz, who has produced such films as "Scenes From a Class Struggle in Beverly Hills" and restored such classics as "Spartacus" and "Rear Window." That duo has been working on the project for the past few months with Constantin's Mitch Horwits. Though they just made the deal with Burke's rep Joel Gotler, they will go out to directors right away with the hope of getting into production by the summer, with Constantin financing.

"The concept of Burke's book intrigued us, and from a movie standpoint, the material is as fresh as it is marketable," said Katz.