It didn’t take long for writer Steven Knight to make a big splash in Hollywood, penning scripts that wound up being directed by Stephen Frears (“Dirty Pretty Things“), Michael Apted (“Amazing Grace“) and David Cronenberg (“Eastern Promises“). And from there, he quickly found himself writing some very buzzworth projects recently, including the next Dan Brown flick “The Lost Symbol,” a Robert Kennedy biopic with Matt Damon attached, a remake of the classic “Le Cercle Rouge” and an “Eastern Promises” sequel (he’s also scribed, less promisingly, the sequel to “Clash Of The Titans“). But rather than await around for any of those get made, Knight is pressing forward on his own directorial debut.
Knight is set to direct “Hummingbird,” based on his own screenplay. The project is set up over at Fox, with New Regency backing it, and the thriller will follow “an ex-special services soldier turned criminal.” And that’s all we know for now. Whether or not bathhouse fights, organ trafficking or uh, titans clashing, will be featured in the story remains to be seen.
The road from screenwriter to director is a perilous one — just ask Mitch Glazer, Dustin Lance Black or William Monahan — so while we’re eager to see what Knight can do behind the camera, we’re also cooling our expectations for now. The plan is shoot this fall, with a cast yet to be announced and we presume a 2012 release is in order. [Variety]
