CBS Films takes 'Vengeance'

'Taken' writer Robert Mark Kamen sets action pitch
By MICHAEL FLEMING
CBS Films has made a preemptive deal to acquire "Vengeance," an action pitch by scribe Robert Mark Kamen. Erwin Stoff will produce.

While material sales are few and far between in the waning days of 2009, CBS Films prexy Amy Baer stepped up to the chance at an action genre entry with a modest budget that is very much in the vein of "Taken," the 2008 sleeper hit Kamen wrote with Luc Besson.

"Basically, it's a contemporary revenge love story -- what happens when violence meets love," Kamen said. "The main characters are 20 and Italian, and there are themes that echo films like 'The Godfather.' It's about family loyalty and how much someone owes their family and the past. It's not set in the gangster milieu but just outside it."

Kamen, who said he and Besson have scripted a sequel to "Taken" that will get made based on star Liam Neeson's availability next year, is working with Stoff for the first time since they started out together with the intention to become writing partners.

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