John Hilary Shepherd, a 2010 WGA Award nominee for his work on the first season of the Showtime series, “Nurse Jackie,” is writing the screenplay. Tobin Armbrust, Head of Production is overseeing the project’s development for Hammer Films.

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The novel, published in 2009 by Tor Books, is the first in a series set in the same Civil War-period, alternate-world Priest has dubbed “The Clockwork Century.” The series’ second novel “Dreadnought” was published in 2010 and the third novel titled “Ganymede” was recently released online and in bookstores on September 27th.

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This is the latest in a number of projects Cross Creek Pictures and Exclusive have teamed on, including George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” which opened nationwide on October 7th through Sony Pictures, the upcoming “The Woman in Black” starring Daniel Radcliffe, which CBS Films has set to release February 3rd, 2012 and Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film “Rush” starring Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth with production partners Imagine, Revolution Films and Working Title.

(Full press release at deadline.com)

Take a look at Cherie Priest’s blog for more….

The smashing third volume in Priest’s Clockwork Century steampunk alternate-history Civil War series (after 2010’s Dreadnought) stars Josephine Early, New Orleans brothel owner and Union spy, who must deliver Ganymede, a prototype submarine, to the North. There are only a few problems: no one has ever successfully piloted the craft, and the Texian and Confederate armies are actively searching for it. Josephine’s former lover, Andan Cly, agrees to help while completing his primary mission of retrieving supplies for blighted Seattle, where noxious gas forces residents to live underground and zombies remain a constant peril. Priest is at the top of her game, equally deft with pirate battles and mature romance: Cly is tentatively connecting with earlier protagonist Briar Wilkes, sheriff of Seattle, making him elegantly cautious around Josephine as they both try to focus on their mission. Clockwork Century fans will dub this installment the best yet. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Also available:
Clockwork Century: Boneshaker
Clockwork Century: Dreadnought

Vampire thief Raylene Pendle is back for more mysteries and mayhem in the entertaining sequel to February’s Bloodshot. When Raylene’s agent hires her to steal some magical bones, the vampire has no idea how much trouble she’s in for. After dodging sorcerous lightning sent by a powerful witch who also wants the bones and has no qualms about unleashing the forces of nature against her enemies, Raylene and Adrian, a Navy SEAL turned drag queen, get involved in trying to solve a suspicious death and must navigate some tricky political situations involving vampire Houses. Raylene’s sharp humor and sly observations about life as a thief and a vampire are the highlight of this engaging book. However, readers expecting answers to the conspiracy story arc raised in Bloodshot will be disappointed by the lack of focus. — Publishers Weekly

When an urban fantasy features a “vampire superthief” and an “ex-navy SEAL and fabulous drag queen” among its lead characters, it can either be a delightful guilty pleasure or a disaster. In Priest’s second Raylene Pendle book (after Bloodshot), the author brings an enjoyable noirish humor to this booming genre. Our undead protagonist boldly breaks down the fourth wall to bring new readers up-to-date (although being reminded that she’s just a character in a book may take some readers out of the narrative). In her new outing, Raylene has been hired to retrieve a magical artificat also desired by a powerful witch who will stop at nothing to get it. At the same time, someone is trying to kill Ian, Raylene’s blind vampire friend.

VERDICT Raylene and her gang of misfits will draw in urban fantasy fans of all stripes as well as fans of Priest’s other fantasies. Some language, used to show character traits, is a bit strong and might turn off gentler readers. However, the humor and adventure more than compensate for this minor negative.­ –Stacey Rottiers, Library Journal

Locus Award winner (Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books), 2009) Priest makes her first foray into urban fantasy with a new series starring undead flapper and high-class thief Raylene Pendle. Being a vampire just means quick healing and useful supernatural abilities as far as Raylene is concerned. She manages to stay out of vampire politics, living alone and working mostly for humans, until a blind vampire shows up and asks for her help in locating the records of the government experiments that left him permanently handicapped. Within moments of accepting the job, Ray is being tailed by government agents, and someone seems to be casing her warehouse, where she stashes goods she can’t move and lets two homeless kids crash. Priest writes a fast-paced mix of caper novel and thriller that features realistically flawed characters (vampire and human). Plenty of action and a fairly high body count (mostly bad guys) make this a good suggestion for fans of Christopher Farnsworth’s Blood Oath (2010) and other crime readers who don’t mind a few vampires.

A 100-year-old vampire thief runs afoul of secret biological experimenters—­first of an urban fantasy series from the versatile author of Boneshaker (2009).

Sassy vampire Raylene Pendle makes a good living by stealing things to order; luckily, the numerous law-enforcement agencies in pursuit think she’s a man. Very much a loner, she lives in Seattle in a vast abandoned warehouse stuffed with valuable objects acquired as insurance—premises she shares with a pair of street-urchin intruders who, over the months, have gradually morphed into lodgers. When charming blind vampire Ian Stott asks for her help, money no object, Raylene pays close attention. Ian needs her to retrieve top secret government files—documents detailing the horrid black-op Army experiments, performed on vampires and other unorthodox persons, that left Ian blind. After an interloper invades her warehouse—Raylene kills him without compunction—she doesn’t immediately make the connection. Then, in Atlanta, she gets a lead on another victim of the experiments via the victim’s brother Adrian, a huge, exNavy SEAL drag queen. Unfortunately, there are immediate complications: ruthless Men in Black masquerading as CIA; and evidence that Project Bloodshot, supposedly shut down years ago, is once more roaring ahead thanks to a mysterious, mega-rich private financier. Brutally unsentimental narrator Raylene—she suffers from early-morning panic attacks and can’t help wondering where Adrian tucks his male equipment while he’s queening—makes a quirky and charming if bloodthirsty host.

A refreshing and addictive lure for readers uninterested in fangs, bats, capes and hissing.

–Kirkus, Starred Review

An intimate, well-crafted portrait of a nurse on a mission adds depth to this exceptional Civil War steampunk thriller, the self-contained sequel to 2009’s Locus Award–winning Boneshaker. Mercy Lynch, recently widowed and taxed to exhaustion by caring for Confederate wounded in Richmond, must cross the war-torn nation to reach her estranged father, who lies dying in the Washington territories. After her dirigible is shot out of the air, Mercy joins Horatio Korman, a Texas Ranger with an agenda, on the Union’s famous steam engine, the Dreadnought. On their trail are desperate Confederate soldiers and a zombified Mexican legion. The battles and intrigue are entertaining, but the real draw is Priest’s latest no-nonsense heroine, who comes equipped with a full measure of sharp judgment and brutal competence as well as a nurse’s kind (but not saintly) heart. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Piracy meets politics head-on in this steampunk thriller, loosely linked to Priest’s much-lauded Boneshaker (2009). Maria Isabella Boyd, a notorious former actress and Confederate spy, is on her first mission for the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. The airship Clementine must deliver its cargo unimpeded, but its former owner, escaped slave­-turned­-air pirate Croggon Hainey, is determined to recover the ship he stole fair and square. A simple pursuit quickly evolves, and soon Maria and Croggon are forced to fight on the same side. Explosive battle scenes, riveting action, and a sharp-eyed examination of the mistrust between Croggon’s all-black crew and very white, very Southern Maria play out in a desperate race against the clock. Though the unflinching portrayal of complex race relations is aimed at adult readers, Priest’s swashbuckling tale is also quite accessible for older teens. –Publishers Weekly