Assassin Pics Officially in the ‘Red’

You know, I woke up this morning and thought to myself the
world could use another lonewolf assassin flick, preferably of the dragged out
of retirement variety. Apparently the bigwigs at Summit Entertainment were
thinking the same thing, announcing today that they’ve acquired the rights to the
DC Comics miniseries Red. The deal marks the first DC property not to be
produced under its parent company Time Warner (Warner Bros.), who’ve handled
everything from Superman to the Watchmen.

Serial hits (feel free to read that as an anagram) maker
Lorenzo Di Bonaventura will handle producing duties on the project through his
Di Bonaventura Pictures. The company is no stranger to comic adaptations with a
current slate that includes both G.I. Joe and the sequel to last summer’s
bombastic Transformers. So expect a decent sized budget. Eric and Jon Hoeber,
fresh off writing another comic adaptation Whiteout with Kate Beckinsale, are
penning the film.

The original comic series, written by geek favorite Warren
Ellis (not to be confused with the musician), was a 3-issue run telling the
story of a retired CIA agent Paul Moses who is forced back into the game when
his former employer sends a modernized assassin to take him out. Think Jason
Bourne minus the memory loss. The film will focus on the old hand vs. young buck
aspect of the material – because no one’s ever done that. One can only hope they’ll
snag Jean Reno to play the bald hero.