In an update six years in the making, Day Shift helmer J.J. Perry has been announced to adapt Red 5 Comic publication, Afterburn for the big screen. Perry replaces Carter and The Villainess director Jung Byung-gil who was previously attached to direct the film which at the time cast Fallen franchise star Gerard Butler.
Instead, that spot now goes to Dave Bautista who reteams with Perry once more following their recent completion on hitman thriller, The Killer’s Game for Lionsgate. Casting also includes Samuel L. Jackson for the film which, according to Deadline’s Andreas Wiseman, will go before the EFM floor in Berlin beginning next week, with Black Bear handling world sales and CAA Media Finance launching domestic.
Per Wiseman, Afterburn “is set ten years after a solar flare has wiped out technology across the globe. Bautista will play ex-soldier Jake who works as a treasure hunter recovering valuable objects from the old world for powerful clients. His latest mission is to team up with freedom fighter Drea to recover the Mona Lisa before an unhinged warlord gets there first.”
Bautista is also producing via Dogbone Entertainment. He joins Original Films’ Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe, in addition to Steve Richards for Endurance Media which is also financing.
Production on the flick is set for April in Europe with more casting to be determined in the coming season.
Read more at Deadline.
Lead photo: Daniel Benavides/Wikimedia Commons
