Universal rides with Knights Templar
Universal has picked up the mantle of The Knights Templar, acquiring a spec script on the historic military order by Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley. In the action script, the knights, fresh from the Crusades, fend off an invading vampire army seeking to destroy the Holy Grail. The studio has purchased the property for Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, director of the Night Watch movies and Universal’s upcoming comic-book auctioneer “Wanted.” The deal signals a vote of confidence in Wanted and shows that Universal is keen to keep Bekmambetov in its fold. Stanley, a one-time production coordinator, was a writer on the low-budget films Beneath Loch Ness and The Shadow Men.

Susan Sarandon, Josh Lucas flock to Peacock
Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman and Josh Lucas are joining Cillian Murphy and Ellen Page in the psychological thriller Peacock. The story is set in Peacock, Nebraska, where a train crashes into the backyard of a bank clerk (Murphy), revealing a woman no one knew lived there. Lucas will play the bank clerk’s friend, a local cop; Pullman is cast as his supervisor; and Sarandon will portray the mayor’s wife, who runs the local women’s shelter. Page will play a woman from the clerk’s past who might hold the secret to the mystery woman. Michael Lander is directing the feature, co-written by him with Ryan Roy.

Strand releasing goes Cherry picking
Strand Releasing has acquired all domestic rights to Doris Dorrie’s German love story Cherry Blossoms-Hanami. The film, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, centers on a German widower as he travels to Japan to visit his son. Strand plans a fall release for the Bavaria Film International production, which also was sold to Denmark’s Sunrise Film Distribution and Hong Kong’s Edko Films.