Zack Snyder's Man of Steel may not have pleased everyone (although we sure liked it) but it managed to bring Superman back to the forefront as a viable cinematic property, it has set the stage for an eventual Justice League movie, and thrust Kevin Costner back into the realm of high-profile roles after nearly a decade in the relative wilderness.
We'll be seeing him more and more in the next few years: he'll have a major part in this fall's Tom Clancy reboot Jack Ryan with Chris Pine, as well as Draft Day and Three Days To Kill in post-production.
Now, Deadline reports that Costner is in talks to star in Midnight Delivery for Universal. The project, written by Mama co-writer Neil Cross and to be produced by Guillermo del Toro, was initially a blank when it came to plot details, but THR has now provided the following synopsis:
The film centers on a father, to be played by Costner, who attempts to save his estranged daughter from a Colombian gang by trafficking cocaine to London on a midnight flight.
The film will be overseen by del Toro, who will produce alongside Lava Bear Films' David Linde. Given Costner's recent career surge, Universal appears to be fast-tracking this one. There is currently no director attached, but given that del Toro's next directorial outing, Crimson Peak, is not due to start until January 2014, expect major traction on this project to begin as soon as - or even before - Costner has finished his acting duties on the currently-shooting Black And White.
There are shades of numerous past thriller plots in what we know about this film, with Midnight Express and Taken springing to mind. And, given the title, we could guess that a majority of the suspense takes place during this flight - meaning some claustrophobic airline-cabin action in the vein of the best scenes in Wes Craven's airplane thriller Red Eye.
So it sounds a little derivative, but writer Cross is the creator of BBC's Luther series starring Idris Elba, and while Mama fell apart (for many) in the last act, strongly written character scenes were a strength of the movie.
Similarly, Costner's scenes as Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel were the emotional core of the film, and served as a reminder of what a welcome and warmly humanitarian presence he can be onscreen. The sheer amount of projects he has on the horizon threaten to cross into over-saturation, but there's no denying his scene-stealing charisma.
_____
Midnight Delivery does not yet have a release date.