Paramount and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot have settled on a couple of screenwriters to pen their adaptation of the graphic novel-picture book Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel. Deadline reports that JD Payne and Patrick McKay will handle scripting duties for the pic, which takes place in the late 19th and early 20th century and tells the story of the world’s first robot who “fought alongside Terry Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I.” The idea for the story is fantastic, and hopefully Abrams and Co. can pull off an equally fascinating feature film.

Payne and McKay have yet to have one of their scripts produced, but they wrote the Goliath pic that Relativity is developing (and may or may not star Dwayne Johnson and Taylor Lautner), and are also penning a feature film adaptation of the Spike TV series Deadliest Warrior. Hit the jump to read a synopsis for the graphic novel.

J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot are putting together a robot tale set in the Victorian Era.  Heat Vision reports that Abrams will be producing an adaptation of the graphic novel-picture book Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel.  Created by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, Boilerplate “purports to tell the story of the world’s first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Terry Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I. The book tells Boilerplate’s story by inserting the character into pictures drawn in the style of the age.”  Based on that description alone, I added the book to my Amazon Wish List.  It sounds like it would make a fantastic movie.

According to HV, Guinan originally pitched the concept and character via a website 11 years ago when trying to drum up interest in a graphic novel. The site eventually took on a life of its own when some people started believing the robot and its history to be true.  And now I want to read the book even more.