Limitless director Neil Burger has signed on to helm the film adaptation of the 27-page short story Animal Rescue, written by Dennis Lehane. Fox Searchlight will be distributing the movie which was previously attached to David Cronenberg, before being taken over by The Descendants‘ Alexander Payne and George Clooney.
The Film Stage is reporting that Rise of the Planet of the Apes producers Peter Chernin and Mike Larocca are still attached to Animal Rescue and that the drama will film in Lehane’s home town of Dorchester, Boston.
Animal Rescue follows “a killing resulting from a lost and contested pit bull, whose death is revealed in the first sentence of the short story. And then there’s a mix of a heist gone wrong, which is possibly expanded from the original source.”
Burger’s attachment to Animal Rescue is a surprise, given that his previous hits include the visual stunners Limitless and The Illusionist. He’s also set to direct the movie adaptation of the Sony video game Uncharted. Helming Animal Rescue is a bit of an odd choice for the director but it definitely seems like a nice change of pace for him.
No word yet on casting or start date but as soon as we hear something we’ll let you know.
