Platinum Studios - Print & Publishing

Universal and DreamWorks circled the wagons to buy "Cowboys & Aliens," a double-genre pitch that will become the next writing and directing assignment for Steve Oedekerk, who handled that double duty on "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" and on Touchstone's upcoming comedy "Nothing To Lose."

The rights to the pitch cost $500,000 against $1.5 million, and Oedekerk will get a low seven-figure sum to write the script, and around $3.5 million to direct and produce, sources said. The total deal's potentially worth $7 million if the film gets made.

That's comparable with the upfront paydays Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich received for "Independence Day." Of course, Devlin and Emmerich sold a spec script and got and a guaranteed greenlight and start date from Fox.

Oedekerk's package was repped by William Morris agents Alan Gasmer and Rob Carlson.

The concept is a mix of science-fiction and Western: A space ship crashes in the Old West. Both the cowboys and Indians get hold of alien technology, weapons and hardware, and begin using it on each other. Finally, they're forced to work together to battle the aliens who come to retrieve the ship.

"I want to do any movie I'm dying to see, and this is the ultimate movie I'd want to see," said Oedekerk, who'll start writing as soon as he completes the sequel to "The Nutty Professor" for Universal and Imagine. Platinum Studios co-owner Scott Mitchell Rosenberg cooked up the concept as a follow-up to "Men in Black," a comic created by Lowell Cunningham at Malibu Comics. Rosenberg, who was Malibu founder/prexy at the time, developed the comic concept and set up "Men in Black" at Amblin with Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Steven Spielberg, who all have segued to DreamWorks. Rosenberg feels "Cowboys & Aliens" has the same "Black" humor and action potential. Platinum Studios, which opened its Beverly Hills offices last week, is a venture designed to exploit Platinum's comic book library for movies and TV properties.

With more than 1,000 titles, Platinum is one of Europe's largest rights house. It also distributes comics worldwide, and will launch a "Cowboys & Aliens" series to coincide with the film's release. Rosenberg will produce the film with Oedekerk. Platinum Studios co-owner Ervin Rustemagic and veep of production Gregory Novek will be co-producers.

"On a conceptual level, 'Cowboys & Aliens' is one of those rare franchise properties that have the potential to not only be a great movie, but also to find life in other media and businesses," Parkes said.

While Disney and Fox Family Films also aggressively chased the property, "Cowboys & Aliens" becomes the third Oedekerk film under the U roof, counting the "Nutty" sequel and the Robin Williams vehicle "Patch Adams." U president Marc Platt and exec veep Kevin Misher worked with Parkes and MacDonald on the deal after Spielberg sparked to the pitch.

It's the second recent co-production for the studios, which recently paired up on "The Age of Aquarius," the Phil Robinson-directed drama starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. Rosenberg's attorney is Bob Wyman, while Oedekerk is managed by Scott Howard and lawyered by David Colden.