The thriller genre has been good to Ethan Hawke, netting him an Oscar nomination for "Training Day."
The scraggly-bearded star is returning to the genre with "Vigilandia," a futuristic thriller written and directed by James DeMonaco ("The Negotiator").
Universal Pictures said Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes Productions and Why Not Productions to produce the film. It is part of a previously announced first-look deal to produce low-budget genre films with Blumhouse.
The project starts filming on February 13, Universal said.
"Vigilandia" will be produced by Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form alongside executive producer Sebastien Lemercier.
Hawke hasn't had many high-profile roles of late. He starred in the 2009 low-budget vampire film "Daybreakers" and the 2010 crime drama "Brooklyn's Finest," but had made more waves on the Broadway stage. The actor won a Tony award for his performance in Tom Stoppard's multi-part "The Coast of Utopia" and appeared in plays by Sam Shepherd and William Shakespeare in recent years.
That could change with his upcoming part in Sony's remake of "Total Recall," which hits theaters this summer.
DeMonaco, who previously worked on "Assault on Precinct 13," starring Hawke and Laurence Fishburne, is also the creator/executive producer of the Spike TVs mini-series "The Kill Point."
