EXCLUSIVE: Paramount’s highly-anticipated The Saint reimagining is gaining some serious momentum as sources tell Deadline Doug Liman is attached to direct and oversee the development of the film. Regé-Jean Page will exec produce and star in the pic. Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Brad Krevoy will produce as will the late Robert Evans, who will produce posthumously.
Plot details are being kept under wraps and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani are writing the script.
Based in part on Leslie Charteris’ 1920s book series and subsequent 1960s UK TV series starring Roger Moore, The Saint follows Simon Templar, better known as The Saint, a Robin Hood-esque criminal and thief for hire who goes on a globetrotting adventure. While plot details for this pic are being kept under wraps, insiders say this will be a completely new take that reimagines the character and world around him.
Paramount would then release the 1997 pic which starred Val Kilmer and went on to be a big hit for the studio and as of late, Paramount saw this as the perfect time to relaunch especially after Page became a star with his hit Netflix series Bridgerton.
Liman is no stranger to launching major franchises like he did with The Bourne Identity but also in giving a new spin on action classics having just wrapped production on another highly-anticipated reimagining in MGM’s Road House which will star Jake Gyllenhaal. With Liman now on board expect this to be a high-priority for the studio as pre-production on a lot of films ramps up post SAG strike.
Next up for Liman, he reunites with his Bourne Identity star Matt Damon on the Apple Studios pic The Instigators which also stars Casey Affleck. He is repped by CAA.
Haines and and Noshirvani are best known for their BAFTA-nominated work on the thriller The Maritanian and also recently penned Black Adam for DC Studios. They are repped by CAA, Grandview, and Darren Trattner at JackowayTyerman Wertheimer.
