Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: CBS Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to The Woman in Black, the gothic horror thriller that stars Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer and Shaun Dooley. I’m still pulling together the facts on this one, but I’m told that CBS Films moved aggressively to beat out bidders that included Summit Entertainment, The Weinstein Company and Relativity Media.

It becomes the third acquisition deal for the increasingly aggressive CBS Films, following The Mechanic and Gambit, the Michael Hoffman-directed film that began production today with Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz starring.

Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who travels to a remote village, where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman who is terrifying the locals. James Watkins directed a script by X-Men: First Class scribe Jane Goldman. The film is based on a 1983 novel by Susan Hill that was previously turned into a hit stage play and 1989 miniseries.

The film is a co-production between Cross Creek Pictures, Hammer Films & Alliance Films. The pic’s produced by Simon Oakes, Richard Jackson and Brian Oliver. Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Roy Lee are exec producers. CAA brokered the deal with Eric Greenfeld. The picture is in post-production, and a release date hasn’t yet been worked out.

Here is a recent teaser trailer:

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