The Weinstein Company (TWC) haswon a fierce bidding war to develop and produce Kung Fu High School, based on RyanGattis' acclaimed novel about youth gang culture.

Ernesto M Foronda will adapt the screenplay and Neal Edelstein and Mike Macariwill produce the Romeo And Juliet tale, which is setin a high school where each gang adopts its own version of an Asian martialart.

"We both read the script and immediately thought it had the potential to becomea great franchise," Harvey and Bob Weinstein said.

"We are very excited to work together on this project, which will be producedby both The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films."

Kung Fu High School is the 26-year-old Universityof East Anglia graduate Gattis' second novel and was published through HarvestBooks in the UKand US on Sept 5.

Production executive Brendan Deneen brought theproject to the Weinsteins. TWC'sexecutive vice president and co-head of business and legal affairs Eric Roth andDimension Films' head of production Richard Saperstein negotiated the deal withattorney Alex Kohner for Edelstein and Macari.

Foronda is represented by Endeavor, and Gattis isrepresented by Justin Manask at IPG.

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