Morel
Paramount Pictures has acquired an untitled Tokyo-set thriller that will be developed as a directing vehicle for Pierre Morel.
Frank Baldwin is writing the script, and Alli Shearmur will be producer.
Like Morel's breakout hit "Taken," pic will be heavy on action and intrigue. Story follows a CIA operative, stationed in Japan but on the verge of retirement, who is ordered to carry out a final mission. He finds himself caught in the middle of an international conspiracy.
Baldwin wrote "The Art of Making Money" and is writing "When Corruption Was King" for Par. He also adapted a remake of "The House of Flying Daggers" for Sam Raimi at Sony.
Shearmur, the former Paramount co-prexy, developed the take with Baldwin before she took a top exec post at Lionsgate.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com