Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. has chosen Brad Ingelsby to adapt Ed Brubaker’s Sleeper, a comic book series published by DC/Wildstorm.  Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi is producing the film along with his partner Josh Donen.  Tom Cruise evidently has had some involvement in the project (see “Cruise, Raimi on Sleeper”), but the current Variety article makes no mention of Cruise.

Sleeper is the story of undercover operative Holden Carver, who has been fused with an alien artifact making him impervious to pain, but able to pass along the pain he has received by touch.  Sleeper is set in a world where both the government agents and the mobsters they are trying to bring down have superpowers, but dress in mufti not the fancy costumes of superheroes.  Sleeper, which was written by Brubaker and illustrated by Sean Phillips (the same creative team that is responsible for the excellent Criminal comic currently being published by Marvel), was published in two 12-issue “season arcs” between March of 2003 and May of 2005.  The Sleeper series has been collected in four graphic novel collections.

The assignment of a writer is always an indication that a project is progressing, though it is no guarantee that a property will reach the screen.  While the Warner Bros. Sleeper project, which was just announced in August, appears to be moving right along, it should be remembered that Brubaker told Comic Book Resources that there have been four previous attempts to make a film based on the comic.