Variety reports that Claflin and Clarke are set to join director Antonio Negret’s (Transit) Overdrive, which starts filming in Marseilles this summer. The story, from Wanted scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, follows two American brothers who take their penchant for grand theft auto overseas to France, where they run into trouble in the black market. Morel, who previously worked as a cinematographer on The Transporter movies, said:
“We’re going to do things that you’ve never seen actual cars do before on screen.”
Claflin was recently reported to be close to a deal to star in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Clarke can be seen in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones when it returns next spring.
Brit thesps Sam Claflin (“Snow White and the Huntsman”) and Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”) are joining Karl Urban in the European car heist pic “Overdrive.”
Film, produced by “Taken” helmer Pierre Morel, will begin shooting in Marseilles this summer.
South American director Antonio Negret will helm “Overdrive.” Negret most recently directed “Transit” as well as a series of promotional shorts for the upcoming “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”
“Overdrive” is being financed and sold by Gregoire Melin of Kinology. Eric Dussart will exec produce alongside Sentient’s Renee Tab, who helped package the film.
Screenplay, penned by “Wanted” writers scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, centers around two American brothers who decide to take their careers as car thieves to the next level by fleeing to France, where they run afoul of a dangerous black marketeer.
Morel worked as a cinematographer on such EuropaCorp films as “The Transporter”, “Unleashed” and “Transporter 2”. “We’re going to do things that you’ve never seen actual cars do before on screen,” he said.
Urban has been long been attached to “Overdrive.” He’s also on J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” sequel for Paramount and “Dredd” for Lionsgate; previous credits include “Red”, “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”, “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “The Bourne Supremacy”
Clarke was rumored to be attached to “Overdrive” last fall.
