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Bill Birch will write the action-comedy "Collared" for Warner Bros. and Mandeville Films, the latter company announced on Friday.
The movie concerns a mysterious group of prisoners held captive in the secretive military base Area 51.
The story is based on an original idea from Mandeville's David Hoberman, who will produce with Mandeville partner Todd Lieberman. David Manpearl will exec produce, while WB's Jon Berg will oversee the project for the studio.
"Collared" marks the fourth WB project for Birch, as the screenwriter has also worked on "Weekend Warrior," "One Finger Salute" and "Shazam!"
Mandeville has David O. Russell's boxing drama "The Fighter" opening in December, and the company is about to start production on Disney's next Muppet movie, which will star Jason Segel, who also wrote the script.
Birch is represented by ICM and Anonymous Content.
