Robert Schwentke orbits 'Venus'

Director attached to New Line, Mandalay pic

By TATIANA SIEGEL

'American Buffalo,' starring John Leguizamo, Cedric the Entertainer and Haley Joel Osment, will likely close on Sunday.

Robert Schwentke is attached to direct the thriller "Venus Fixer" for New Line and Mandalay Pictures.

Based on a true story, the project centers on a Holocaust survivor recruited by the American military to track a serial killer on the rampage in postwar Berlin. He must partner with a German cop who had been his friend and colleague before the Nazi regime came to power.Author J.C. Pollack, who is best known for writing espionage thrillers under the pseudonym James Elliott, penned the screenplay.

Mandalay prexy Cathy Schulman is producing "Venus Fixer." The company's Scarlet Lacey is serving in some producing capacity.

Mandalay projects in development include Universal Pictures' "The Birds," with director Martin Campbell, and the adaptation of Liquid Comics' graphic novel "Ramayana."

Schwentke, whose credits include the Jodie Foster thriller "Flight Plan," most recently helmed the Rachel McAdams-Eric Bana starrer "The Time Traveler's Wife" for New Line.

Pollack's novels include "End Game," "Nowhere to Hide" and "Cold Cold Heart," all of which he wrote under the Elliott pseudonym.