Bumblebee helmer Travis Knight has signed on to direct the vampire movie Uprising for Netflix and Shawn Levy's 21 Laps banner.

Based on Raymond Villareal's book A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising, the action-thriller takes place in the midst of a global pandemic as a virus starts turning people into vampires. The story finds CIA agent Lauren Webb racing against time to uncover the truth behind a growing uprising that threatens to wipe out all of humanity.

Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight) wrote the latest draft of the screenplay, with previous drafts penned by Jay Basu and the writing team of JD Payne and Patrick McKay. Levy and Dan Cohen are producing for 21 Laps, whose Emily Morris will oversee the project for the company, which has an overall deal with Netflix.

history-of-the-vampire-book-social

RELATED: Netflix's 'Vampires vs. the Bronx' Trailer Proves Gentrification Really Sucks

Though Knight comes from the world of animation, having served as the CEO of Laika since 2006, studios have been courting him for high-profile live-action movies ever since his Transformers spinoff Bumblebee elicited strong reviews from critics and audiences alike. He nearly directed the Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg but I think he was wise to wait for the right follow-up to come along. Knight previously directed the Oscar-nominated Kubo and the Two Strings, and he also oversaw Laika productions such as Coraline and ParaNorman.

Netflix has already sunk its fangs into the vampire genre, which never seems to die, pun intended. The streamer has Jamie Foxx starring in the upcoming vampire thriller Day Shift, and also released the French-language series Vampires last year, plus its hit anime series Castlevania involves Count Dracula, as does the Dracula series starring Claes Bang. There's also Immortals and V Wars and Vampires vs. the Bronx, which is actually worth a look. The point is that vampires are still very popular post-Twilight, so expect Netflix to cast a big star in Uprising now that Knight is at the helm.

KEEP READING: The 20 Best Vampire Shows You Can Watch Right Now