Ratner named 'Boys from Brazil' director

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- "X-Men: The Last Stand" director Brett Ratner has been tabbed to head a modernized remake of the classic film thriller "The Boys from Brazil."

Daily Variety reported that Ratner's decision to sign onto the remake of the 1978 Gregory Peck-Laurence Olivier drama helped cement an auction for the film's rights between Universal Pictures and the film's eventual owner New Line Cinema.

The film's rights had been auctioned by Granada Films, which had earlier purchased the library of the Incorporated Television Company, including the film rights to the Franklin J. Schaffner-directed thriller.

"Boys" -- based on the novel by Ira Levin -- focuses on an attempt by Nazis to re-create the personality of Adolf Hitler in a series of clones, by having them undergo similar childhood experiences as the infamous leader had.

Ratner, along with screenwriters Richard Potter and Matthew Stravitz, have created a new concept rooted in the original but updated to fit in today's cinematic world, Ratner told Variety.

"The original was a flawed film with a brilliant concept," he said. "You no longer have to spend time explaining cloning as you did then."