According to Deadline, James McAvoy (X-Men franchise) is considering signing on to star in the sci-fi thriller Extinction. The project is currently in development with Good Universe and Mandeville Films.

Several writers have worked on the script including Brad Caleb Kane (Marco Polo) and Spenser Cohen and Eric Heisserer (Arrival). The plot centers on a factory mechanic who becomes a hero following an invasion of Earth by aliens who are not as peaceful as they initially seemed.

David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing. The search is on for the right director.

It has been 10 years since McAvoy won the BAFTA for Rising Star and since then, he has won critical acclaim for his performances in The Last King of Scotland (which won Forest Whitaker a Best Actor Oscar) and Atonement, which was nominated for 7 Oscars and won for Best Original Score. He has played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise reboots and starred in last year’s Victor Frankenstein. He will be in three upcoming thrillers which are currently in post-production: M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, David Leitch’s The Coldest City, and Wim Wender’s Submergence. As a change of pace, he will be voicing Gnomeo in the animation comedy feature Gnomeo & Juliet: Sherlock Gnomes.