Helm on active duty

DreamWorks' longtime plan to revive spy Matt Helm has taken on new life, with the signing of Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to write a new film. The writing team, in a high-six-figure deal, will pen a contemporary movie based on the subject of 20-plus potboiler novels by Donald Hamilton. Helm is a former spy during WWII who, upon retiring from his top-secret organization, unsuccessfully attempts to put his past behind him. Columbia Pictures released four Matt Helm-inspired spy spoofs starring Dean Martin, beginning with "The Silencers" in 1966. DreamWorks has dabbled with the idea of a Helm franchise before and a few years ago set up a project with producers Jennifer and Suzanne Todd. That film never came to fruition and is not related to the new Brandt and Haas project, which DreamWorks' Marc Haimes is overseeing.