'Metro 2033' novel's film rights bought by MGM

The film rights to Metro 2033, the sci-fi novel by Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky that served as the source material for a 2010 video game from THQ, have been purchased by MGM Studios.

The film rights to Metro 2033, the sci-fi novel by Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky that served as the source material for a 2010 video game from THQ, have been purchased by MGM Studios.

MGM has tapped F. Scott Frazier to adapt the book for the screen. Gran Via Productions, which was involved with the Chronicles of Narnia adaptations, is set to produce the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Metro 2033 focuses on a young man in a post-nuclear holocaust Moscow, where the survivors are forced to live underground. It tells the story of his journey into the bowels of the Moscow Metro, and then to the surface. Glukhovsky released the novel on his website in 2002; it was first published in 2005, with an English translation that came in 2010 alongside the launch of its video game adaptation.

Kiev-based developer 4A Games is currently working on a Metro 2033 sequel for THQ called Metro: Last Light; it is set for release in the first quarter of 2013.