Doug Liman’s first feature-length directorial outing in four years, the Tom Cruise-starring sci-fi blockbuster “Edge of Tomorrow,” sees release later this year and the “Bourne Identity” director isn’t wasting time in lining up a follow-up gig. THR reports Liman is being courted by Warner Bros. to helm an adaptation of the forthcoming children’s novel “Railhead.” Set for release in fall 2015 and written by Philip Reeve, the book “is set in a futuristic world where trains run through space via portals. The main character is a petty thief hired to steal an object that happens to be more important than he was led to believe, setting off an adventure that could change the course of the galaxy.” Hopefully, “Railhead” turns out better than Liman’s last attempt at a YA novel, 2008’s “Jumper.”
Though he’s not a critical darling, “Underworld” director Len Wiseman is still a studio favorite and Variety reports he’s found another job. David Ellison’s Skydance Productions—the tentpole flipside to his sister’s auteur-leaning Annapurna Pictures—has tapped Wiseman “to helm the supernatural thriller ‘Black Chapter.’” The film, written by Marvel veteran Zak Penn with the story broken by Penn and Wiseman together, focuses on “a FBI agent who is drawn into a classified military program that trains its operatives to use paranormal activities.” No word on when production will begin.
Frequent Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis producer and collaborator Frank Marshall is all set to direct his first film in eight years, per THR. Paramount has set up Marshall at the captain’s wheel for “The Longest Night,” which is based on a Sean Flynn-penned story in GQ that follows “a true-life Coast Guard rescue operation undertaken against the most impossible odds.” Although there’s not production start date listed, the film will likely wait until Marshall’s producing duties on “Jurassic World” end.
