Matt Dillon and Columbus Short have signed on to topline the heist thriller Armored for Screen Gems.

The story centers on an armored car guard (Dillon) who is persuaded by his veteran cohorts to empty the truck of its $10 million.

Nimrod Antal (Vacancy) will direct from a James V. Simpson screenplay. Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year.

Sam Raimi, Josh Donen and Dan Farah are producing, while Chris Lemos and Luis Guerrero are executive producing.

Dillon has also landed the starring role in another Screen Gems heist film, Bone Deep, produced by Overbrook Entertainment. In Bone Deep, he will play a Manhattan detective who is pit against a young crew that specializes in elaborate heists.

Source: Variety October 31, 2007

Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free Productions is going back to its genre roots with Tell-Tale, a modern-day reimagining of the Edgar Allan Poe classic “The Tell-Tale Heart” from director Michael Cuesta and screenwriter Dave Callaham.

“‘Tell-Tale’ is a psychological thriller that sets Poe’s haunting tale against the backdrop of modern science,” Scott Free president Michael Costigan told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Poe-inspired film will be produced by Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Costigan as well as Social Capital’s Christopher Tuffin and Martin Shore.

The film is budgeted at $20 million and will be shot in early 2008. Casting is under way.

The tone of the film likely will be a cross between Jacob’s Ladder and Marathon Man.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter October 31, 2007