According to Variety, Timur Bekmambetov, whose sci-fi actioner Night Watch was a Russian box office sensation, has inked his first deal to helm an English-lingo pic, Universal's Wanted.

Wanted is based on a comicbook series by Mark Millar. Marc Platt set up the series with Universal last year and will produce with Jason Netter and Jim Lemley, with Marc Silvestri exec producing.

Night Watch grossed more than $15 million in Russia and sold an unprecedented 600,000 DVDs in the piracy-plagued territory. Totals were in excess of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters, including The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King and Spider-Man 2.

With its dark tone, Wanted is in a similar mold as Night Watch. Protag is a nebbishy white-collar worker who discovers his father is the world's most evil supervillain. After his dad is murdered, the son is recruited into a covert org and trained to take up his father's legacy.

The script was penned by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. Duo also wrote U's "2 Fast 2 Furious" and are currently at work adapting Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit for Paramount.