Legendary Entertainment Lands Rights To Military Thriller Books ‘Tier One’

EXCLUSIVE: Legendary Entertainment is set to adapt a series of military thriller novels after landing the film and TV rights.

The company has acquired the rights to the Tier One series, written by Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson.

The news comes a day after Legendary Entertainment completed its buyout of Wanda Group’s stake in the company, a move that CEO Josh Grode said ushers in a new era for the studio.

Tier One is a military thriller novel series that follows John Dempsey as an elite Navy SEAL, whose life is turned upside down when his Tier One unit is attacked by a terrorist organization. As the lone survivor of the attack, Dempsey finds himself recruited into a shadowy black ops unit that sends him on an unlikely journey of becoming an elite spy for the United States Government.

There are eight books in the series with a ninth due next year.

Legendary Television is currently developing the project. Marcus Blakely (Neuromancer) and Peter Johnson (Supernatural) will exec produce alongside Andrews and Wilson, and Blackstone Publishing’s Brendan Deneen and Josh Stanton.

The rights were previously acquired by The Cross Brothers for a series adaptation, but it didn’t materialize.

It is the latest book to be optioned from Blackstone Publishing, the Oregon-based company that hired former Miramax executive Brendan Deneen to oversee its TV and film arm. The company currently has projects set up at Netflix, Amazon Studios, Paramount, NBC/Universal, Lionsgate and AMC.