District B13, Taken and Peppermint helmer Pierre Morel will direct action thriller, The Blacksmith. The film is based on the 2011 Kickstart Comics publication written by Richard Sparkman and Malik Evans, and illustrated by Alberto Muriel.
The film renames its protagonist, centering its story on Wes Loomis, a high-tech weapons expert for the spy community who is rendered fugitive and on the run when his secret lab is decimated and his colleagues are murdered. Left to his own devices and without his usual tools, he’ll have to improvise his journey of survival as it inches him closer to the dark heart of his profession.
Production will begin next year from a script by Source Code writer Ben Ripley. He will produce with Air Force One producer Jon Shestack, Wanted producer Jason Netter, and Jeremy Stein. Morel’s representation, UTA, has U.S. sales rights with Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios financing, exec producing with Samantha Shear and Bob Sobhani, and handling sales rights sans U.S..
“Ben Ripley’s terrific script introduces us to a highly original, new breed of tech-savvy action hero in Wes Loomis, and Pierre is the perfect director to bring this franchise to life,” Ford said in a statement. (THR)