New Line signs Gears of War movie

New Line has won the rights to the movie of Epic Games' award-winning Gears of War.

The film is to be written by Stuart Beattie, the screenwriter of Collateral and Derailed, and produced by Temple Hill, Variety is reporting.

New Line's deal is with developer Epic, which held on to the ancillary rights when signing the game publishing deal with Microsoft.

Gears of War has sold over three million units since launch last year when it became the fast-selling Xbox 360 title to date.

Variety reports that lead designer Cliff Bleszinski will act as executive producer on the film.