EXCLUSIVE: After Christopher Nolan turned Homer’s ancient poem into gold with The Odyssey, maybe Hollywood is ready to take more chances on literate period fare. How else to explain the high level of interest when CAA and Kaplan Perrone went out with the spec script The Ballad of the Ember Knight, a 14th century-set drama that clocked in at 190 pages? When the dust settled, Sony paid near seven-figures to the sibling writing team Kieran and Brennan O’Dea. It is the first time they sold a script.
Ember Knight is a medieval epic set against the French and English conflict during the Hundred Years’ War. The hero is a legendary warrior accused of murdering the royal family. To reclaim his standing, he must protect the kingdom’s last surviving prince from the conspiracy that threatens them both. Sony’s Brittany Morrissey and Peter Kang brought it into the studio, and it came without producer attachments.
How did this become the talk of town at a time when the material market goes into summer slumber? It started with Aaron Kaplan, who was asked to read the script, knowing full well it would be a hard sell given its length. He flipped for it, CAA got into it, and they took it out.
While there was flirtation with doing Ember as a longform TV effort because of its length and sweep, the scribes didn’t want to go that route. Nor did they want to cut their work down to the usual length of around 112 pages for a feature script. Sony moved quickly.
Who are the O’Dea brothers? They are the middle sons of astronomers. Originally from the East Coast, they grew up in Baltimore and then Rochester before moving to northern Idaho after college. Their storytelling passion was fueled by their late grandfather, who would tell them as bedtime stories works like The Iliad, The Odyssey, Macbeth, WWII, and an errant knight named Sir Kay. It is comforting to know there is still a place for the classics in Hollywood.
The brothers are repped by CAA and Kaplan Perrone.
