Mark Waters to Helm VAMPIRE ACADEMY Adaptation; Zoey Deutch to Star

MEAN GIRLS' director Mark Waters is set to head back to high school. Only a darker version, this time.

Deadline has announced that Waters will direct the first film in the young adult VAMPIRE ACADEMY series. His brother, Daniel Waters, writer of HEATHERS, penned the script. Preger Entertainment is set to produce with Angry Films. IM Global's Stuart Ford has also signed on as executive producer.

In addition, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, and Danila Kozlovski have signed on to play the lead roles, Rose, Lissa, and Dimitri, respectively, in VAMPIRE ACADEMY: BLOOD SISTERS.

The six entries in the series, written by Richelle Mead, follow Rose Hathaway (Deutch), a teenage girl whose best friend, Lissa (Fry), also happens to be a vampire. The pair attend a special school for vampires who wish to retain their humanity.

"Tonally this so different from all these movies that are so solemn and serious," Ford said. "This is as much Mean Girls as The Hunger Games. It is snappy irreverent, sexy and just a lot of fun. And we got the right director for that kind of movie."

Filming on VAMPIRE ACADEMY: BLOOD SISTERS is set to begin this summer.