Spec Update: Universal wins GRIM NIGHT and WB buys sci-fi drama THE END

Last night there were two separate spec script purchases that are worth your attention. Universal Pictures won Grim Night, while Warner Bros. picked up the apocalyptic drama The End.

Grim Night is a thriller about "a night that happens once a year globally, where people lock themselves at home and fend off the senseless and random attacks by Grims." Deadline reports that Universal paid between six and seven figures to beat out six other interested parties. Grim is being produced by Unbroken Films partners Bryan Bertino (The Strangers) and Adrienne Biddle along with Marc Platt. The script was written by Brandon Bestenheider and Allen Bey, and this marks their first sale. The duo helped seal the deal by making a teaser trailer that leaked right before the auction began. This looks like a unique project that I am interested in seeing. Check out the trailer below and see for yourself. 

The second deal of the night was made by Warner Bros. Deadline reports that the studio has nabbed The End, a science fiction/drama written by Aron Eli Coleite. The film focuses on "three completely different storylines that are interconnected by the fact that the players in each one are trying to reconcile the fact that the world is going to end. There is a veteran broadcaster in London, a 16-year old girl and her boyfriend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a devoted family man in Shanghai. They each try to make peace with their lives before an interstellar event ends the world in just six hours." The project is still in it's infancy, no producer has been brought aboard. The project is being shepherded by Jesse Ehrman and Andrew Fischel for Warner Bros. 

Both of these projects sound like good purchases. I enjoyed The Strangers, and like the look of Grim Night. Interconnected story lines can also be very cool, but they have to be done just right. I am interested in seeing who is brought to produce and direct. What are your thoughts on this news?