First Official Look At Colin Farrell In Thriller ‘Dead Man Down’ As FilmDistrict Take U.S. Rights

And Relativity Pick Up 'Paranoia' With Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman And Liam Hemsworth

Over a decade after he first emerged on the scene (his breakout, "Tigerland," was way back in 2000), Colin Farrell is having a moment again. The actor looked to have chucked his chance at A-list stardom away after films like "Alexander" tanked, but the actor has slowly been working his way back up again, aided by a well-received pair of villains last summer in "Horrible Bosses" and "Fright Night." Before the year is out, he'll headline blockbuster "Total Recall," and reunite with Martin McDonagh, who gave Farrell his best-ever showcase in "In Bruges," for "Seven Psychopaths." And he seems to be Warner Bros' new favorite son: when the studio couldn't interest him in the troubled "Arthur and Lancelot," they gave him the lead role in Akiva Goldsman's "A Winter's Tale" instead.

But right now, Farrell is doing none of those things. Instead, the Irish actor is filming thriller "Dead Man Down," which comes from Niels Arden Oplev, director of the original Swedish version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," and "Fringe" writer J.H. Wyman. The actor plays a man seeking vengeance, aided by a mysterious woman (Noomi Rapace) and his best friend (Dominic Cooper) on the leader of a crime syndicate (Terrence Howard), while Isabelle Huppert, of all people, figures somewhere into the plot as well. We've already seen some glimpses of Farrell, rifle in hand, getting vengeful via some set photos, but the first official still has arrived via Deadline and… well, it's Farrell in a car park, carrying a bag and a plastic milk bottle. Fill your boots.

There's a reason for the image being released, however: Deadline report that FilmDistrict have acquired U.S. distribution rights to the project, and will release the picture next fall. Given that they're the company behind "Drive" and Rian Johnson's upcoming "Looper," it would seem to be a pretty good home for the picture. FilmDistrict also made another pick-up at Cannes, acquiring haunted-mirror horror "Oculus," presumably in the hope that it'll replicate the huge success they had with "Insidious" last year. That film shoots in the summer.

And finally in Cannes acquisition news, Deadline say that another relatively recent start-up, Relativity, have picked up thriller "Paranoia" for the U.S. Directed by Robert Luketic ("21"), the film stars "The Hunger Games"' Liam Hemsworth as an entry-level employee at a tech company tasked by his manipulative boss with becoming a corporate spy at a rival. Things get murderous from there, thanks to a supporting cast that includes Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, Lucas Till and new addition Richard Dreyfuss. It sounds like a sort of spin on "Wall Street" or "Antitrust," but we're hopeful that Oldman's presence means that this might be a cut above. Relativity have already put it on the schedule: it'll hit theaters on September 27th, 2013.