Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden’s just-published (but long gestating) illustrated novel Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampirehas been optioned by Regency in a 7-figure deal, with David Goyer set to direct, Variety reported on Friday. Mignola and Golden will write the script.

Just-published by Bantam, the graphic novel tells the story of the awakening of supreme evil on Earth. Lord Henry Baltimore is bitten by a demonic vampire bat on a WWI battlefield. The plague destroys his family, and Baltimore creates a team to hunt and fight the Red King, the embodiment of all evil.

Mignola created the comicbook character and series “Hellboy” and was a conceptual artist on “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and “Blade 2.” Golden has written novels including “The Myth Hunters” and “Wildwood Road,” and three of his titles are being developed into movies by studios.