Screenwriter Michael Starrbury, who penned the screenplay for George Tillman Jr’s critically-acclaimed 2013 feature, "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete," has sold an action-adventure spec to Paramount titled "ARES," which stands for "Allied Recovery of the Extraordinary and Supernatural."

It sounds like there’ll be some sci-fi or fantasy elements mixed in with all the action and adventure.

To be produced by Mark Gordon, and shepherded by Michele Wolkoff and Drew Simon (who co-developed the spec with Starrbury), according to the Hollywood Reporter exclusive, details on plot are currently being kept underwraps; although, per the Hollywood Reporter exclusive, the project is being compared to "Indiana Jones" and "Men in Black," and like those 2, Paramount hopes it will be the beginning of a franchise.

Starrbury is certainly an up-and-coming writer you should know by now (he’s received lots of ink on this blog since "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete"). "ARES" is just one of a handful of projects on a burgeoning slate  that includes, as we previously mentioned on this blog, an adaptation of an Image comic book titled, "The Great Unknown," written and drawn by Duncan Rouleau, which Jorma Taccone, director of "Saturday Night Live" digital shorts and the feature "MacGruber," is attached to direct, with Mark Gordon also producing what will be an action-comedy.

Starrbury also made the coveted Black List in 2011, with a script titled "Watch Roger Do His Thing," about a retired hitman who’s roped back in for one last job.

I dig the fact that he’s working in a variety of genres.

There are likely many black writers working in Hollywood right now (for film and TV), that we’re just not aware of, since writers rarely get the kind of publicity actors and directors do – unless you’re one of the few superstar writers. So I continue to ask that, if you’re one of them, please let us know!