EXCLUSIVE: German powerhouse Constantin Film and U.S. outfit JB Pictures are fast-tracking development on an as-yet-untitled action-horror movie based on the re-emergence of giant snake the Titanoboa. Think The Meg with serpent scales.

JB Pictures’ Jeremy Bolt and Constantin’s Robert Kulzer are producing the film, which is slated to shoot in 2020. Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz is executive-producing. This is the same producing team behind the smash Resident Evil movie series and the upcoming franchise hopeful Monster Hunter, another video-game adaptation starring Milla Jovovich.

Tony Giglio, second unit director on Resident Evil: Afterlife and writer-director on upcoming live-action first-person shooter update Doom: Annihilation, is aboard to write the screenplay.

The Titanoboa is an extinct species of giant snake which lived in northeastern Colombia. They could grow up to 12.8 m (42 ft) long and reach a weight of 1,135 kg (2,500 lb). The reptile existed around 58 to 60 million years ago and is the largest snake ever discovered.

As we revealed yesterday, German distribution and production force Constantin is also working on a feature version of hit video game franchise Just Cause, and has set as screenwriter Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer of the John Wick trilogy.

Here in Cannes, the firm has been as acquisitive as ever, scoring movies including Nicolas Bedos’ Out Of Competition comedy-drama La Belle Epoque, and $20m feature Eiffel, about the untold love story behind the creation of the Eiffel Tower.

Giglio is repped by attorney David Markman at DLA Piper.