20th Century Fox has signed a two-year first-look deal with Epic, a new venture started by journalists Joshuah Bearman and Joshua Davis designed to use long-form investigative journalism as a starting point for movies, TheWrap has learned.
Bearman wrote the Wired magazine story that served as the basis for Ben Affleck's Oscar-winning drama "Argo," while Davis' article about software pioneer John McAfee is being turned into a Warner Bros. movie by "Crazy Stupid Love" directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra and "Big Eyes" writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
Additionally, Sony and "Argo" producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov are adapting Bearman's "Coronado High" as a feature film, as TheWrap first reported.
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Bearman and Davis have spent the last few weeks meeting with several studios in search of a first-look deal with overhead. Fox execs Mark Roybal and Michael Ireland will manage the studio's relationship with Epic.
Epic's mandate is to publish at least six long-form pieces of investigative journalism each year. The deal will allow Bearman and Davis to hone their own producing skills as well as join forces with Fox-based filmmakers such as Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian.
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Rick Jacobs at Circle of Confusion represents both Bearman and Davis, who are respectively repped by UTA and Resolution.