Paramount picks up 'Sword'

In what's said to be a seven-figure deal, Paramount has picked up "Gideon's Sword," optioning the upcoming novel for Michael Bay to produce through Bay Films.

"Sword" is the first novel in a new Gideon Crew series written by the team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, scheduled to be published in February by Grand Central Publishing.

The "Sword" deal came together in part because WME reps both authors and Bay.

Preston and Child specialize in horror and techno-thrillers. They've published 13 New York Times bestsellers together, dating back to 1995's "Relic." Preston's nonfiction work "The Monster of Florence" is in development with Tom Cruise's production company, while Child's most recent solo novel "Terminal Freeze" was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover.

The duo's "Fever Dream" was published May 11, debuting at No. 3 on the N.Y. Times bestseller list.

Bay's working on directing and exec producing "Transformers 3" for Par, which is set to open July 1, 2011.

"Sword" represents Bay's second book-to-film deal in a year, following his acquisition of James Frey's "I Am Number Four" last June. Bay's producing the sci-fier for DreamWorks, with D.J. Caruso helming and Timothy Olyphant starring.

Bay, Child and Preston are repped by WME.

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