If you send your mind on a parkour-style jump/sprint through the months, you might recall that back in 2011, Paul Walker was in talks to take the lead on Brick Mansions, the US remake of District 13. Well, it’s taken more than a year for everything to be worked out, but Walker is on board and Relativity Media is setting up financing and distribution alongside producer Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp.
Camille Delamarre, a Besson protégé, is directing from a script by Taken’s Robert Mark Kamen.
Walker is on to play an undercover detective chasing a stolen weapon of mass destruction. When he learns that the man responsible – a violent drug dealer – has taken it into the ghetto known as Brick Mansions, he reaches out to the agile Lino (David Belle) for help. Lino knows the place better than anyone and isn’t afraid of the drug dealers who seemingly run the place like their own little kingdom.
Belle, of course, is the star of both District 13 (AKA Banlieue 13 in Europe) and its sequel, District 13: Ultimatum. He’s also the man credited with creating obstacle-hopping sport parkour in the first place. Though the Lino role had been heavily sought after by some big names, Besson stuck to his guns on the casting front.
There’s no word on when it’ll kick off shooting, but it might have to jostle for attention on Walker’s non-Fast & Furious schedule with his other recent big job announcement, taking over the lead in the newly rebooted Hitman franchise.