Maple Pictures has secured Canadian rights to the black comedy Burke & Hare, currently shooting in the U.K. under director John Landis, the distributor announced on Thursday.

The feature is a comedic take on the true story of the 1828 Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis), who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to a medical college for dissection. It also stars Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), Isla Fisher (Confessions of a Shopholic) and Tim Curry (Kinsey).

The deal was negotiated by Maple’s SVP of acquisitions John Bain and Natalie Brenner of London-based Ealing Studios. The distributor is planning a winter release in late 2010 or early 2011.

Landis is best known for directing horrors and comedies including An American Werewolf in Paris, The Blues Brothers and National Lampoon’s Animal House. Burke and Hare‘s grisly story has been adapted into a number of movies, including 1960’s The Flesh and the Fiends, starring Peter Cushing.

‘The pedigree attached to this project is amazing. John Landis will undoubtedly bring his subversive and sharp sense of humor to this retelling of macabre goings-on in 19th century Scotland,’ commented Bain in a release.

Maple’s upcoming releases include the John Lennon bio Nowhere Boy, about Lennon’s early years, and actioner Killers, starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl.