Paul Greengrass Confirmed for Fear Index

Deadline has news about a couple of Oscar-caliber filmmakers as Paul Greengrass adds another movie to his roster while Robert Zemeckis has had to opt out of directing one movie he had been circling to focus on another.

First of all, they’ve confirmed that Paul Greengrass will be directing the Fox 2000 adaptation of the Robert Harris thriller Fear Index, which involves a scientist who uses computer algorithms to make money on the world financial markets. The novel is released in the UK next month and in the States in January, and the movie is produced by Chernin Entertainment, who are coming off their hit movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but first, Greengrass will direct Sony’s Somali pirate movie A Captain’s Duty with Tom Hanks.

Meanwhile, they also report that Robert Zemeckis has officially dropped out of the Warner Bros. drama Replay, based on Ken Grimwood’s novel, in favor of directing Denzel Washington in the Paramount thriller Flight, written by Jon Gatins (Dreamer, Coach Carter). In the film, produced by

Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, Washington will play a pilot on a commercial aircraft who saves the day when he’s able to avoid a crash and land the plane safely despite being under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Warner Bros. will be looking for a new filmmaker to take over Replay.