Universal Pictures and Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers have brought on Jonathan Herman to write the adapted screenplay for Demonologist.

We first reported on the project last February, when the studio acquired the rights to author Andrew Pyper's novel before it was published. The story centers on a professor who specializes in the John Milton poem Paradise Lost. He accepts a free trip to Italy, where he learns that a demon is trying to kill his daughter. The teacher must go on a dark journey to rescue her from this evil entity. Robert Schenkkan (Pump Up the Volume) wrote the original draft of the screenplay adaptation.

ImageMovers' Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine are producing, although no shooting schedule has been released.

Jonathan Herman has become a go-to writer for Universal, where he is writing an untitled movie about hackers for producers Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson. He also wrote The Birds remake for Platinum Dunes.