James McAvoy is set to star in Control, a high-concept action thriller that will be directed by Robert Schwentke (Red) and backed by Studiocanal and The Picture Company.
The film is an adaptation of the award-winning podcast Shipworm from Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, with Akers writing the original script, with the latest revision by Andrew Baldwin.
The film is a tense ticking-clock thriller revolving around a doctor who awakens one morning with an untraceable device planted in his head. He must follow a mysterious voice’s instructions, or devastating consequences will unfold.
The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman will produce under their long-term overall deal with Studiocanal. Shooting will begin in Berlin this summer.
Control will put McAvoy back in a place he knows well – the thriller genre – where he has consistently shone in the X-Men films, collaborations with M. Night Shyamalan, and Wanted. He’s usually very adept at leading this sort of high-concept movie, so Studiocanal and The Picture Company will be very happy to have secured his services.
Schwentke is also experienced in the genre, having directed the aforementioned action ensemble Red, as well as Jodie Foster thriller Flightplan and two of the Divergent films.
He just directed John Malkovich in Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes, a dark comedy historical drama which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.
McAvoy just signed on to star alongside Mackenzie Davis in the Blumhouse psychological thriller Speak No Evil, a remake of the Danish film of the same name.
He’ll next be seen in Jeymes Samuel‘s ensemble epic The Book of Clarence, which also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, and David Oyelowo. That hits cinemas Friday, September 22.
#Peace.Love.Control
