David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt sold The Heavens Trilogy to Editorial Director Julie Crisp at Tor UK. The deal, for UK and British Commonwealth rights, was managed by original publisher Penguin US during the recently concluded Frankfurt Book Fair.
Warner Bros optioned the film rights to the trilogy in a seven figure deal.
The series is “an epic science fiction/adventure series that finds mankind fighting for survival in a new world plagued by an alien menace. Heaven’s Shadow (scheduled to appear in July 2011) begins with the discovery of an object of unknown origin headed toward Earth. Speculation as to what it might be runs high, and leads to an international competition to be the first to land on it, to claim both the prestige and whatever other benefits there might be. Thus, two rival teams of astronauts begin a thrilling and dangerous race—but what they find when they reach their goal will turn out to be unlike anything they could have imagined.”
Crisp said “Heaven’s Shadow reads like Michael Crichton channeling Arthur C. Clarke. It’s everything I loved about science fiction written in the 1950s bought up-to-date for a contemporary audience. We’re thrilled to add such an exciting trilogy and these hugely talented authors to the Tor UK list.”
Goyer is a screenwriter, film director, and comic book writer. He has written the screenplays for Ghost Rider, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Flash, and is currently working on writing the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman film series, as well as the new Superman movie. Cassutt is a television producer, screenwriter, and author, who has worked on The Outer Limits, Eerie Indiana, Beverly Hills 90210, and The Twilight Zone.