Jon Robin Baitz to write Silent Night for Universal

Out playwright Jon Robin Baitz (The Substance of Fire) has been hired by Universal Pictures to adapt Silent Night, a true story about a Christmas Eve truce in World War I, says Variety. Based on the book by historian Stanley Weintraub, Silent Night will tell the story of a temporary truce wherein soldiers from opposing sides stopped fighting and played soccer and sang Christmas carols together. Outraged officers on both sides insisted that the soldiers resume fighting. The book was optioned by Depth of Field, the Universal-based production company headed by Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie).

"At a time when we are approaching the status of the warrior in our culture once again, it's an interesting time to look at nationalism, patriotism, and pacifism," said Baitz. "The truce was the last gasp in a kind of chivalry that went back centuries, when soldiers went back to the rules of engagement that were being broken down. What happened after is that exact moment of history that birthed a modern and very dangerous kind of warfare."