"Heroes" actor Masi Oka develops big-screen project

LOS ANGELES  - DreamWorks has picked up "The Defenders," a family adventure project conceived by "Heroes" actor Masi Oka.

D.J. Caruso is in negotiations to direct, and Gary Whitta is on board to write the script. to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

The story centers on a group of mostly teenagers from around the world who are involved in a multiplayer video game, each unaware of who the others are behind the cover of their consoles and avatars. They are forced to come together for a real adventure, becoming inadvertent heroes in the process.

DreamWorks will develop a video game as well as the feature.

Oka came up with idea while playing MMORPGs -- massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

"You can be whoever you want to be," he said. "The question came to me: What if you had to live up to the person you created in the virtual world?"

Whitta wrote "The Book of Eli," an upcoming Denzel Washington action thriller.

Caruso ("Eagle Eye") will direct the action fantasy "Jack the Giant Killer."

Oka this week begins shooting the latest season of "Heroes," on which he plays the time-shifting character Hiro. He said he is working on several other projects as well.

"I love 'Heroes,' don't get me wrong, but there's something about creating something from scratch that you don't get from being in front of the camera," Oka said.