Bryan Singer Directing Jack The Giant Killer

According to HeatVision Blog, Bryan Singer (Superman Returns, Valkyrie) has signed on to direct “Jack the Giant Killer,” the fantasy adventure from Legendary Pictures and New Line.

Penned by Mark Bomback (Deception, Live Free or Die Hard) and Darren Lemke (Lost (2004)) while Neal Moritz is producing via his Original Film banner. David Dobkin will co-produce alongside Legendary’s Jon Jashni and Alex Garcia.

“Jack the Giant Killer” is set in motion when a princess is kidnapped, threatening a long-standing peace between men and giants. A young farmer is given an opportunity to lead a dangerous expedition to the giants’ kingdom in hopes of rescuing her.

Apparently the film is being fast-tracked so it will mostly likely be Singer’s next movie. “Battlestar Gallactica” and remake of “Excalibur” (1981) will have to wait.

Columbia Picks Up ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ Spec

Columbia has preemptively picked up “Battle: Los Angeles,” a sci-fi spec from scribe Chris Bertolini (The General’s Daughter (1999), for Neal Moritz to produce via his Original Films banner.The story follows one Marine platoon’s encounter in the battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles.

“I love the idea, and I love the script. I like it all,” Moritz said. “We are going to be in production within six months. What’s attractive to me is that it’s a huge event movie that can be done at a modest scale.”

January’s “Cloverfield” took a similar tack with the monster movie concept, though it did so with a handheld camera point-of-view. “Battle” will employ more traditional camerawork.

Ori Marmur will oversee for Original.

Sam Dickerman is shepherding on behalf of Columbia.

Moritz is behind this weekend’s release of the horror remake “Prom Night” and has the romantic comedy “Made of Honor,” starring Patrick Dempsey, opening May 2.

Bertolini, repped by Endeavor and Greenlit, wrote “The General’s Daughter.”