William Monahan, an American screenwriter and novelist, has signed a two-year first-look deal with Paramount Pictures through his company, Henceforth Pictures.

Monahan has numerous projects currently in development. According to Deadline, “Monahan separately has turned in a scripted adaptation of John Le Carre’s most recent novel, A Delicate Truth, to BBC Films. He has numerous other projects in the pipeline, including Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For, as well as an adaption of Sympathy For Lady Vengeance that will star Charlize Theron, with Monahan producing with Theron and Megan Ellison.”

Monahan is the scriptwriter for two upcoming Paramount projects, The Gambler and Desperado. He wrote the screenplays for the films London Boulevard, Edge of Darkness, Body of Lies, The Departed and Kingdom of Heaven. He made his directorial debut on London Boulevard and directed Mojave from his own script. In 2007, he won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Departed.

In other recent Hollywood news, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy have formed a new, female-driven division of their film and television production company, Gary Sanchez Productions. The new sister division, named Gloria Sanchez Productions, will focus on creating film and TV projects about and led by women. Jessica Elbaum, a longtime production executive at Gary Sanchez, will head the venture. Check out the ScreenCraft post about the news.

Also, our judges have spoken, and the grand prize winner of our 2013 ScreenCraft Action/Thriller Script Contest is The Forsaken by Charles Robert Mahoney.

“As a writer I am blown away by the quality of the feedback I received and thankful for validation that this opportunity has provided,” said Charles Mahoney. Read more about his winning entry here.