EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Eckhart has been set to lead Renny Harlin’s action-thriller movie The Bricklayer, which is due to get underway in March in Europe.
The Expendables outfit Millennium Media is producing with Gerard Butler after both teamed up with Eckhart on the lucrative Has Fallen franchise.
In The Bricklayer, someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite against the U.S., the CIA must lure its most brilliant – and rebellious – operative out of retirement, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.
The film is set to shoot at Millennium’s new Nu Boyana Greece studio and its Nu Boyana Bulgaria facility. Millennium will handle sales at the upcoming virtual European Film Market.
Screenplay comes from Hannah Weg (Septembers of Shiraz) and Matt Johnson (Into the Blue).
Producers are G-Base’s Alan Siegel, Butler and Danielle Robinson; Eclectic Pictures’ Heidi Jo Markel; and Millennium Media’s Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, Yariv Lerner and Rob Van Norden. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Tanner Mobley from Millennium are executive producers.
Eckhart is in production as former President Gerald Ford in Showtime’s The First Lady, which will mark the actor’s biggest small-screen role to date.
Said Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2 director Harlin: “The Bricklayer screenplay has the rare combination of well-layered characters, intricate plotting and propulsive action. Having spent five years in China, I’m excited to be back making a high-caliber Hollywood action thriller. If there’s something I learned from my three Chinese movies, it is the importance of deeply felt emotion. In Aaron Eckhart I have found a first-class dramatic actor, who also has the physicality and charm to bring this iconic character to life.”
Said Mobley, VP Development for Millennium Media: “This is an incredible opportunity to develop a strong new IP into a potential franchise. Renny Harlin knows how to execute big action, and Aaron Eckhart is such a versatile actor who will bring great depth to this character. We couldn’t be more excited to launch this film with our talented team,”
The project has been quiet for more than a decade when Butler himself was attached to star for Millennium.
Eckhart, whose credits also include The Dark Knight, Midway and AMC’s upcoming Panthron, is represented by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum. Harlin is represented by UTA and Paul Hastings. Hannah Weg is represented by Mosaic, CAA and Paul Hastings. Matt Johnson is represented by Industry Entertainment and WME.