Sony Acquires ‘The Wells Initiative’ From Scribes Ben Lustig & Jake Thornton

EXCLUSIVE: In a mid-six against seven-figure deal, Sony Pictures has acquired The Wells Initative, a pitch for a sci-fi/action adventure where a young H.G. Wells, the godfather of science fiction, actually experiences the events that will one day inspire his famous novels. The pitch is by Ben Lustig & Jake Thornton, who shook up the town earlier this year when Sony paid $1 million to win their spec script Winter’s Knight, the Viking-mythology-tinged origin story of St. Nick and Christmas, with Kon-Tiki helmers Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg attached. That was brought in by Sony Pictures production president Michael De Luca, who also led the way on this one, with Ange Gianetti.

The Wells Iniative will be produced by Trigger Street’s Dana Brunetti and Carter Swan. Circle of Confusion and WME repped the writers.