Colin Firth will star,and Christopher McQuarrie will direct ‘Three To Kill’

Scribe Christopher McQuarrie (Wolverine, Jack the Giant Slayer, Edge of Tomorrow) is busy filling up his director’s card. He helmed the 2012 Tom Cruise Jack Reacher and is soon to direct the Cruise action blockbuster Mission Impossible 5. McQuarrie has just signed on to film the adaptation of Jean-Patrick Manchette thriller novel Three To Kill, starring Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, The Railway Man).

Manchette’s novel Three To Kill, has already been adapted into a successful graphic novel, West Coast Blues, by Jacques Tardi, nominated for 2 Eisner Awards in 2010. Three to Kill tells the story of a man who witnesses a murder and then goes on the run as he is chased by the killers. He feels empowered by his new-found adventure and decides to turn the tables on his pursuers and chase after them. Andrew Lauren Productions is financing the film and is co-producing with Laura Bickford.

Lately, Manchette has been enjoying watching his stories turn into big screen features.  The Prone Gunman has been adapted by Studio Canal Silver Productions. It will be released under the title The Gunman, and is directed by Peirre Morel (Taken). It stars Academy Award Winner Sean Penn (Mystic River), Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) and Idris Elba (Mandela: The Long Walk To Freedom).

McQuarrie is already committed to Skydance productions to helm the live-action adaptation of the 1970’s anime science fiction TV series Space Ship Yamato, entitled StarBlazers. In this case, McQuarrie will also pen the script.

According to Deadline Skydance is hoping to build a franchise from StarBlazers. They are coming off mega successes with Star Trek: Into Darkness, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and World War Z, which has just past a $500 million box-office world-wide, though the critical reception for all except World War Z suggests that Skydance may still be looking for a property with long-term franchise potential.

Skydance is keeping busy  developing Geostorm, a global disaster action-thriller to be directed by Dean Devlin (Indepencance Day), who is  penning the script with Paul Guyot (Judging Amy), and teaming with Annapurna and Paramount Pictures on the reboot of The Terminator.