Ridley Scott is nearing 87, but he’s not stopping any time soon. The filmmaker will now direct a new action thriller with “franchise potential” and a soon-to-be-indemand role for a young actor.
A report from Deadline tells 20th Studios has bought the Kevin McMullin short story BOMB, with Scott set to helm. McMullin will adapt his short for this feature film script.
Deadline notes the bidding war for the project was intense, with a reported “10 bidders, including Apple, Netflix, Sony and Warner Bros,” all interested. Scott and Scott Free’s Michael Pruss are producing, and Deadline notes that the working relationship between company Scott Free & McMullin is sealing the deal.
Per the short story, Frankie Ippolito is a hostage negotiator called into duty the night before his wedding in London. A man who has parked himself in a construction site in Piccadilly Circus is standing on a newly uncovered, unexploded bomb from WWII. He tells local law enforcement he will only speak with Frankie, and this sets off a chain of events in which Frankie is drawn into an overnight struggle to stop the bomber with whom he has a past.
Fresh off Napoleon [read our review here], Scott is currently finishing Gladiator 2.