New Regency nabs 'End of Eternity'

Studio acquires rights to Asimov novel

By MICHAEL FLEMING

In its first big acquisition since being reconstituted, New Regency has acquired rights to "The End of Eternity," an Isaac Asimov time travel novel first published in 1955.

Regency will take the book out to directors before a writer is hired.

The Asimov novel is a futuristic tale in which humanity is controlled by a ruling class called Eternity, member of which can manipulate time to alter history and prevent disasters or wipe out undesirables. One of the time cops flirts with disaster when he breaks the cardinal Eternity rule and falls in love with a woman from another time period. The project was mobilized by New Regency chiefs Bob Harper and Hutch Parker plus Navid McIlhargey, who was recently hired from Silver Pictures to generate tentpole films that the company will distribute through Fox and either fully finance or co-finance with the studio.

Pic will be produced by Vince Gerardis, with Eli Kirschner exec producing. Gerardis' company, Created By, represented the Asimov estate, which recently brokered a deal for an adaptation of the author's "Foundation" series being developed for Warner Bros. by Unique Features partners Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne.

Though long out of print, "The End of Eternity" has fascinated filmmakers for some time. The book was most recently set at Paramount with Ridley Scott and Tom Cruise but the project never got off the ground.