In an interview on the pajiba.com Website screenwriters Derek Haas and Michael Brandt acknowledged that they have been hired by Universal to write a screenplay for a sequel to Wanted, the comic book-based movie starring James MacAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, that is due to be released on June 27th.  Haas and Brandt, who also penned the highly regarded script for 3:10 to Yuma, wrote the screenplay for Wanted, which is based on the Top Cow mini-series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.  Tyro Russian director Timur Bekmambetov is helming the film that Haas and Brandt describe as “a gigantic, hard-R action movie that we hope will please the comic fans.”

Universal is obviously pleased with Wanted and hopes to develop the property into a franchise, which explains why the studio is gambling somewhat by paying Haas and Brandt to write a sequel before the original has debuted, though in the event that Wanted doesn’t perform up to expectations, Universal won’t have to write off a huge investment--and if the film is a hit, there is a good chance that the studio could have a sequel ready for release in 2010 if not sooner.