"Sacred Prey" targeted as big-screen project

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. and in-demand screenwriter Brad Ingelsby will develop a feature based on "Sacred Prey," Vivian Schilling's novel about a hit man who becomes the victim of his own takedown.

The high-concept thriller centers on a loan shark who kills a man he believes duped him, only to wake up and find himself in the body of that man three days before the murder. He then embarks on a furious effort to prevent the murder he committed.

Tentatively dubbed "Sacred Prey," the project might yet get a new title, with "Hit Man" among the names being considered.

During the past 15 months, Ingelsby has climbed from an unknown to the top of the screenwriters' pile.

An insurance salesman from Pennsylvania, Ingelsby created a sensation with "The Low Dweller," a spec script he wrote on a lark. The dark thriller, which Leonardo DiCaprio and Ridley Scott quickly signed on to produce, ignited a bidding war that Relativity Media won.

Ingelsby soon had other projects set up at Hollywood studios, including the Todd Field-directed "Nancy & Danny" at Paramount and the Marc Forster-produced "Die Bad" at Universal.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

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