Once a project that had Darren Aronofsky attached in 2013, then David Fincher and Rooney Mara just last year, Red Sparrow has had no trouble attracting talent. Keeping them has been the issue. Now it's Francis Lawrence, fresh from completing his run on The Hunger Games franchise, who is circling the directing job. Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle) adapted Jason Matthews' book which centers on modern day Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova, an operative who becomes a "Sparrow", trained in the art of "sexpionage" using her talents to seduce a young CIA officer, only for them to fall in love and put their lives and respective agencies in danger. [Deadline]
Last month Jackie Chan signed on to star in the action-thriller, The Foreigner, with a number of directors being sought to join the production. Apparently a decision has been made as Green Lantern's Martin Campbell is set to helm the adaptation of Stephen Leather's novel, The Chinaman, about "a humble restaurant owner in London’s Chinatown who is forced to push his moral and physical boundaries to track down the group of rogue Irish terrorists responsible for the death of his beloved daughter after the justice system fails him. " David Marconi (Enemy of the State) and Peter Buchman wrote the screenplay. [Deadline]
