Filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier impressed both critics and cinephiles with his widely acclaimed 2013 revenge thriller Blue Ruin, his second feature film as a director. His third – Green Room – will open theatrically later this month and has already impressed had a strong film festival response. While his name may not be all that well-known, that may soon change as Saulnier appears to have boarded his first studio project – the spy thriller Defection according to The Tracking Board.

The thriller, log-lined as a modern day Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, is being set up at 20th Century Fox with a script by Ken Nolan that was showcased on the both the 2014 Hit List and Black List. Based, at least on part, by Robert Littnell’s 1973 novel The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, the story centers around a CIA case officer who with his cunning and expertise goes after a mid-level CIA contractor who has recently defected to North Korea; he carries with a suitcase of mysterious contents as well.

Blue Ruin cemented Saulnier’s skill at creating tension so this might be worthy to pay attention to. That film won a prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the John Cassavettes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Green Room, which stars Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots, arrives in theaters on April 29th. No production time table has been established yet nor have any casting announcements. We will stay tuned to the latest on Defection as new is unveiled.