Joe Wright, known mainly for his journeyman work on such British melodramas as 'Pride & Prejudice' and 'Atonement,' is jumping on the thriller fast track. According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, the British director is in talks to helm 'Hanna,' an action-adventure about an Eastern European girl unknowingly bred by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. As she grows up, she connects with a French family and their daughter and begins the angst of her teenage years. But her world is torn apart when she discovers that she was trained in a CIA prison camp, and she must fight her way to a free life. It's being described as 'La Femme Nikita' meets Jason Bourne.
Wright's next film after the disappointing 'The Soloist' was to be the period piece 'Indian Summer,' starring Cate Blanchett and Hugh Grant, but that project was put on hold due to a rising budget and poor market for upscale adult films.
Several directors with action films under their belt, including Danny Boyle and Alfonso Cuaron, have been interested in 'Hanna' since it was brought into Universal's Focus Features specialty arm in 2007, so the choice of Wright may come as a surprise to some. But the helmer has a strong hand with story line, characters and visuals ... and the change of pace could solidify him in the top ranks of Hollywood directors. Change is good: Even song-and-dance man Stanley Donen turned in the credible thriller 'Charade' after 'Singin' in the Rain.'
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