Robert Schwentke, the German helmer who directed Jodie Foster and gang in the upcoming high-flying thriller Flightplan, is already making plans for his future as Variety tells us he has signed on as director for Runaway Train at 20th Century Fox.
The action-thriller is already heading into pre-production with an eye on lensing early next year.
There is no cast as of yet, but the story is said to be inspired by true events and follows a rail company’s frantic efforts to stop an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying enough combustible liquids and poisonous gas to wipe out a nearby city. To quote Variety:
The pic is inspired by real-life events of a few years ago, when a runaway freight train carrying thousands of gallons of toxic acid hurtled along nearly 70 miles of track with no one aboard, threatening about 50,000 people.
