Jon Watts had only directed two low budget movies before being tasked with integrating Tom Holland’s Peter Parker into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Spider-Man: Homecoming, and he’s remained exclusively in the superhero genre ever since.
As well as helming sequels Far From Home and No Way Home, the filmmaker was also announced for the MCU’s Fantastic Four reboot last year, which everyone expected him to jump straight into once he’d finished up his duties on the web-slinging trilogy.
However, a massive bidding war has broken out in Hollywood over a mysterious thriller that has Watts attached to direct. Sony, Lionsgate, Apple, Amazon, Universal, Warner Bros. and more are all said to be chasing the project, which has Brad Pitt and George Clooney signed to star and produce.
Plot details are virtually non-existent, but it’s said to focus on a pair of veteran fixers who find themselves tasked with the same job, presumably leading to all sorts of double-crossing and one-upmanship. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Watts is on track to land the biggest payday of his career depending on which studio manages to strike a deal, with Pitt and Clooney in line for a windfall of $20 million each.
The director of the multi-billion Spider-Man series overseeing a crime caper headlined by a pair of two-time Academy Award winning A-listers teaming up for the first time since 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen? No wonder everyone wants a piece of the action.
