Following the domestic zombie drama Maggie, Arnold Schwarzenegger is staying in sombre mode for 478. Schwarzenegger has been attached to the revenge story since June, and the film now has a director. Elliott Lester, who directed Arnold's fellow Expendable Jason Statham in Blitz, will be calling the shots. Darren Aronofsky is among the producers.
The script, written by Enemy’s Javier Gullón, finds Arnold as a man who loses his wife and child in a plane crash (there's been no explanation of the title so far, but we'd guess it's the fatal flight's number). As it transpires, the tragedy was caused by an air traffic controller’s mistake. The controller is hounded and eventually placed into protective custody, but Schwarzenegger’s character can’t let go and decides to seek his own vengeance.
Yet lest you think this is all sounding a little like Collateral Damage (minus the terrorism aspect), think again. According to Deadline’s sources, it all plays out more like a subtle character piece than the Austrian Oak going in guns blazing. And it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise given the writer.
Lester arrived as a director in 2006 with Love Is The Drug, and since Blitz in 2011 has been behind the David Oyelowo-starring Nightingale, the TV action series Chop Shop, and the recently completed but not yet released thriller Sleepwalker, starring Richard Armitage.
Lionsgate are releasing 478 in the States, and it's expected to be a hot property for further deals at the American Film Market, which kicked off yesterday. Shooting is set to start in December in Ohio.