UNIVERSAL VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE FOR 'LONE SURVIVOR' (DHD, VAR, THR)

By Nancy Vialatte

The bidding war for Marcus Luttrell�s �Lone Survivor� ended yesterday with Universal the victor. Last Thursday, Nikki Finke reported that studio heads were �interrupting their vacations� for a stab at the non-fiction book about a Navy Seal who led a team into Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader but was the only one left standing. Now, Finke and others say that Universal has acquired the NYT best seller and Navy Seal Luttrell�s �underlying life rights� for 7 figures. Sony, Warner and DreamWorks were also reportedly in the running. Peter Berg will adapt and direct.

I'm told that Barry Spikings brought the project to Akiva Goldsman, who in turn took it to Pete Berg. Putting Spikings and Goldsman on as producers, Uni bought the book for Berg who'll be writing and directing this as his next project for his Film 44 production company. (DHD)

Book agent Ed Victor and Hollywood lawyer Alan U. Schwartz of Greenberg Traurig brokered the Lone Survivor deal. This seems to be another in what is a growing trend in the movie business to bring events about post-9/11, Iraq/Afghanistan and the troops into the plots of its pics. (DHD)

Luttrell bonded with Berg, a fellow Texas native who had used Navy Seals in the making of upcoming Universal release "The Kingdom," paving the way for U to buy the tome and underlying life rights for Berg's Film 44 shingle, Akiva Goldsman's Weed Road Prods. and Barry Spikings' Spikings Entertainment. (VAR)

Finke says she hears the deal is worth $2 million upfront plus 5% against adjusted gross along with other payments.

When it first made the Hollywood rounds, the studios passed, the common wisdom being that the subject was too tough to take on and that there already were a growing number of Middle East-set war movies. (THR)

For Luttrell, the most important item on his list was that any adaptation had to respect his fallen comrades, so he wanted to achieve a comfort level with his suitors. According to sources, Schwartz said he did not want an auction scenario but was going to let Luttrell decide where to place the project. Schwartz, however, left for a weeklong vacation after the meetings, and it was then that the bidding began in earnest. (THR)

Sources said the competition got under way when latecomer DreamWorks made a high-priced offer, escalating bids into the seven figures. DreamWorks proposed a team of Michael Bay attached to direct, with Scott Rudin and David Permut producing and Steven Spielberg as executive producer. (THR)