UA Gives Green Light to Bryan Singer Thriller

[Brian Damage]

United Artists' Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner have greenlit their second film, an original thriller that Bryan Singer will direct as his next feature, reports Variety.

The untitled film re-teams Singer with The Usual Suspects screenwriter Chris McQuarrie. Singer and McQuarrie will produce.

Set in WWII, the project is similar to "Suspects" in that it is a multi-character ensemble piece.

Singer and McQuarrie took the project directly to Wagner and Cruise, who agreed to finance it almost immediately.

The film will delay Warner Bros.' hope of mounting a sequel to Superman Returns in the near future, adds the trade. Singer's Bad Hat Harry production company has an overall deal at WB, where he is developing several films that include that sequel and the Harvey Milk biopic The Mayor of Castro Street. Singer is also directing "Football Wives," a series pilot for ABC and ABC TV Studio.

The new project begins production this summer.