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Liam Neeson’s shift from solid drama actor to all-out action badass came rather late in his acting career. As this Friday sees the release of trilogy-closer, Taken 3, does this mean he might be heading for new waters? By the looks of his next project, the answer to that question is a resounding no. Just because Bryan Mills is retiring (we’ll see) doesn’t mean that Neeson has to relinquish his ass-kicking credentials, as he’ll be carrying on his action-packed antics in The Escapist.

A remake of Rupert Wyatt’s British thriller, Studio Canal are taking the reins on this Americanized take on The Escapist. It’s assumed that Neeson will tackle the role Brian Cox commandeered in the first movie, and it’ll be a change to see him dishing out orders while his lackeys do the heavy lifting.

In the 2009 original, Cox starred as a...

The director of Cold In July and We Are What We Are has graduated to the studio world and will helm Legendary’s wildfire action film.

Esperanza is based on Sean O’Keefe’s screenplay adapted from the novel by John N Maclean about a perfect storm of wildfires. Legendary’s Alex Hedlund will oversee the project.

Mickle’s (pictured) Cold In July premiered at Sundance 2014 and played in Cannes, while We Are What We Are screened in 2013 in Sundance and Cannes.

O’Keefe is currently writing the remake of The Escapist for Studio Canal with Rupert Wyatt producing and Liam Neeson attached to star.

He has Riders On The Storm at Fox with Davis Entertainment, while Joe Roth and Mir Bahmanyar are producing his 2012 Black List Project The Paper Man.

Legendary’s Michael Mann cyber thriller Blackhat starring Chris Hemsworth opens through Universal on January 16.

Legendary Pictures has found a helmer for the tragic wildfire story Esperanza in Jim Mickle, the acclaimed American director who’s made a name for himself with horror indies Stake Land and We Are What We Are and last year’s Southern-fried pulp thriller Cold In July.

Esperanza is adapted from The Esperanza Fire, John Maclean’s book about a wildland fire started by an arsonist that killed the tightly knit forest service engine crew that bravely battled the blaze. Set against the backdrop of one of the most fire-prone areas in the world, the film chronicles the Spartan culture of these firefighters battling the ‘perfect storm’ of wildfires.

Mickle will direct from a script by Sean O’Keefe (The Escapist, Riders on the Storm, The Paper Man) with Alex Hedlund overseeing for Legendary. He’s the latest indie helmer to be tapped for bigger budget studio fare, as Gareth Edwards...

Every year, film executive Franklin Leonard releases his list, called The Black List, of most-liked unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. This year's list was compiled from the suggestions of 290 film executives, each of whom picked up to ten of their favorite scripts. Since the list started in 2004, many screenplays ended up being turned into films. In 2005, two of the top three scripts were "Lars and the Real Girl" which was nominated for Best Original Screenplay Oscar, and "Juno" which actually won the Oscar. See the 2012 Black List below, broken up by how many votes each screenplay received. Some of the projects are already in the works. 65 - Draft Day (Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman) On the day of the NFL Draft, Bills General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to save football in Buffalo when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he's willing to sacrifice in...