AceShowbiz -

After a heated bidding war, Universal won a battle against Warner Bros. for "The Real McCoy". It has landed the rights to the action-adventure film starring Chris Pratt after plunking down $1.5 million against $3 million.

At the center of the story is a bootlegger, Bill McCoy, who illegally sells rum during th United States' Prohibition era. Being a teetotaler doesn't prevent him to do his job, his practice of smuggling alcohol from the Bahamas is clean, uncut and doesn't bring any chaos. This may have inspired the famous idiom "the real McCoy."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tom McNulty will produce the project alongside Michael De Luca. Bill Dubuque, who previously wrote "The Judge", penned the script for "The Real McCoy". This will mark De Luca's first project under his first-look deal with the studio. Pratt reportedly responded enthusiastically when McNulty and Dubuque pitched the project to him. No director is attached just yet.

After his stunning performance in "The Guardian of the Galaxy", Pratt will next be seen in sci-fi film "Passengers (2016)" and "The Magnificent Seven".