Par finds perfect fit for 'Area'

Georgaris added to '51'

By DAVE MCNARY

Georgaris

Paramount has tapped Dean Georgaris to script thriller "Area 51" and produce with partner Michael Aguilar under their Penn Station banner along with Christine Peters and Midway Games.

Deal comes two weeks after Paramount announced it had acquired the feature rights to Midway's "Area 51" videogame and set the project up with Peters.

Project's seen as a potential tentpole for the studio. It's based on Midway's longtime vidgame franchise in which players assume the role of a specialist handling hazardous materials investigating a distress signal from Area 51, where a viral outbreak shuts down the research facility.

Senior VP Wendy Japhet and VP Marc Evans are overseeing for the studio.

Midway CEO and prexy David F. Zucker said, "We're excited about Dean Georgaris coming on to Area 51, because it's a rich story that's fertile ground for a feature."

Assignment is the fourth Paramount project for Georgaris, following "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," "Paycheck" and "The Manchurian Candidate," on which he shared screen credit with Daniel Pyne.

Par signed Penn Station to a first-look deal last year and the partners have set up an adaptation of horror comic "Aleister Arcane" and a remake of George Romero's "The Crazies" to be scripted by "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" scribe Scott Kosar.

Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, who owns a majority of shares in Midway Amusements, disclosed last month in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Viacom was considering acquiring Midway or making it an exclusive licensee.