Stuart Gallop, a former snack vendor from Bristol, has won $10m funding to turn his script for In War They Come into a movie

A former popcorn seller from Bristol has landed a $10m (£6.4m) deal to transform his science-fiction screenplay into a Hollywood film.

Stuart Gallop, 31, spent 10 years writing the script for In War They Come, which centres on an alien species that plucks human soldiers from the Earth during major conflicts such as Vietnam to conduct experiments on them. He had previously travelled to the American film market in Los Angeles in the hope of selling his screenplay, but finally found a buyer after taking it to Cannes earlier this year.

Gallop has come a long way from his humble origins as a snack seller at a cinema in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, 13 years ago, an experience which inspired him to work on his own blockbuster effort.

"I worked there because it was the nearest I could get at the time to being involved in films," he said. "Even just selling people popcorn and seeing what film people were going to see was exciting because I wanted to see their reaction."

"I was worlds away from thinking it was something I could do myself. When I was there, films like Saving Private Ryan were coming out. I remember some of the old veterans who went in to watch it coming out very upset and moved. Films really, really touch people, and I knew that was the sort of thing I wanted to do some day.''

In War They Come is now seeking a director after picking up financial support from a consortium of investors following Gallop's deal with LA-based actor and producer Beau Nelson and producer Kayo Anderson at Cannes. Ironically, the trip to France might never have taken place had the wannabe screenwriter not been made redundant in April from his job as a business analyst and project manager for the student accommodation company United. He now hopes to shoot his Vietnam-set film next year, possibly in Puerto Rico.