Having broken out in a big way as the resident heartthrob of Netflix’s monster hit and global phenomenon Bridgerton, Regé-Jean Page is wasting no time in setting his sights on becoming a movie star.
The actor has already boarded the Russo brothers’ $200 million espionage actioner The Gray Man and lavish fantasy adaptation Dungeons & Dragons, not to mention the continued James Bond speculation, but he’s now setting his sights on building a franchise of his very own having signed on to star in and executive produce The Saint.
Leslie Charteris’ literary creation first appeared in 1928, and ever since then the property has stuck to roughly the same template by following gentleman thief and master of disguise Simon Templar as he travels the world helping those in need, often using methods that aren’t exactly legal to get the job done.
Roger Moore is the best-known version of the character after starring in 118 episodes of The Saint between 1962 and 1969, with sequel series Return of The Saint airing a decade later. Val Kilmer played the role in Phillip Noyce’s 1997 blockbuster that made close to $170 million at the box office but failed to generate a sequel, while a scrapped 2017 TV pilot was released as a VOD movie.
Paramount veteran Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing, with Kwame Kwei-Armah tasked to crack the script. This particular reboot has been in the works for a long time, with Chris Pratt the first name attached to The Saint, before he was replaced by Chris Pine. Dexter Fletcher was also signed to direct during that period, but there’s no word on whether or not he’ll remain involved. A light and breezy crime caper feels like a solid use for Page’s talents, and it could help establish his leading man credentials in a major way.