John Cusack and/or his agent have been working the phones pretty hard this week. The last two days have seen the actor sign up for the financial drama "Due Process" and the Stephen King adaptation "Cell," and now Cusack has busted out the quill again to put his name on another movie, which has a rather intriguing name attached to write and direct.
Cusack is in negotiations to topline "Airspace," a thriller that has Roger Avary in talks to direct. The filmmaker has been slowly rejuvenating his career following his 2009 conviction for vehicular manslaughter, which saw him serve a year in prison. Since then he's been tapped to write an adaptation of William Faulkner's "Sanctuary," and rumored to direct his long-talked-about "Rules Of Attraction" spinoff "Glamorama." And while those both seem like they're not really happening, this summer it was reported that he was penning "Jesus Of Nazareth" for Paul Verhoeven.
As for this project, penned by Briana Hartman ("Brother's Keeper") and based on the short story by Michael B. Chait, it's described as a "Duel"-style movie about a charter pilot who is flying home to his family, who discovers a mysterious briefcase on his plane, and comes under attack from an MIG fighter. Uh, what? That sounds kind of ridiculous. Anyway, Avary is polishing the script, and should it all come together, it will be his first directing gig in a decade. The project is being repped right now at AFM, with financing coming together, and should it generate enough talk, we suppose it'll take off soon enough. [Variety]