Though we were vaguely surprised to hear late last year that Sean Penn was looking to get into the full-on action business with Prone Gunman, word that it won’t just be a Statham-style smash-n-shoot made it seem much more understandable. But for all the talk of layers, producer Joel Silver is in negotiations with someone definitely known for more straightforward action: Pierre Morel.

Morel is certainly someone who knows how to knock older stars into fighting shape. This is, after all, the man who helped Liam Neeson develop his particular set of skills in Taken and aided John Travolta in destroying chunks of France’s capital in From Paris With Love. Now he’s looking to take on this film, which is drawn from Jean-Patrick Manchette’s novel.

Peter Travis wrote the adaptation, which would find Penn play Martin Terrier, an international operative betrayed by the shady organisation he works for and forced to go on the run as he’s chased across Europe.

It remains to be seen if the existentialist flavour of the book transfers to the screen, or whether it’ll end up as a lot of kicking and a lot of bullet flinging. Penn just appeared in Gangster Squad, so it’s not like he’s averse to such things.

Penn’s been developing Crazy For The Storm as a possible next directorial project alongside The Comedian, but he doesn’t appear to have a confirmed job lined up just yet.