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Noyce sets out to bridge East/West divide in ‘Killer 10’

Phillip Noyce will join the screening of 'Newsfront' via Zoom.

Phillip Noyce. (Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons.) 

Phillip Noyce is attached to direct Killer 10, a WWII action adventure which will follow a gang of expat criminals who are coerced into a suicide mission behind enemy lines.

The eponymous 10 will be played by five Chinese actors and five from the US and Australia in the film scripted by Paul Staheli (Guardians of the Tomb, Triple Threat) and Justin Monjo (Jungle, Storm Boy, Underbelly Files: Chopper), based on an original concept by Arclight Films CEO Gary Hamilton.

“The challenge of Killer 10 is to make a film that appeals to both Western and Chinese audiences,” Noyce tells IF.

Arclight will produce with Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk following their collaboration on Anthony Maras’ Mumbai Road, and Ying Ye through her Shanghai Aurora Alliance.

Arclight will pitch the project to prospective buyers at this week’s American Film Market and says the plan is to begin principal photography next spring, although Noyce thinks that is unlikely.

After directing the feature The Giver in 2014  he has been busy directing TV shows including an episode of History Channel’s Roots and the  pilot and second episode of 20th Century Fox TV’s The Resident, a drama about an idealistic young doctor who is supervised by a tough, brilliant senior resident.

Also he recently directed the US movie Above Suspicion, a thriller starring Jack Huston,  Emilia Clarke and Sophie Lowe based on the true story of an FBI agent who is assigned to a small town in Kentucky where he becomes involved with a local woman, leading to scandal.

Last week he signed a first-look deal to produce and/or direct for Fox TV.

Jonnie Davis, president of creative affairs at Fox TV said, “He brings out the best in his actors and his crew and he always elevates strong material into undeniable television.”

By December 31 he will have to decide whether to direct WWII action thriller The Devil’s Brigade or Killer 10. If neither comes together by that date he will direct one of two pilots.

Scripted by Jonas McCord, The Devil’s Brigade is based on the true story of how Davie Berman, the only Jewish member of the Luciano mob, helped the US military turn the tide of events against the Germans in Italy by organising a team of Sicilian Cosa Nostra to work with the Americans. Moshe Diamant will produce with Foresight Unlimited handling international sales.

The pilots on offer are 800 Grapes, the saga of a 30-year-old woman whose  family owns a Sonoma vineyard and who discovers a month before her wedding that her fiancé has been keeping a secret that will change their lives forever, for the US ABC network; and police procedural drama Green-Lit for NBC.

Among the projects on the development slate at his Rumbalara Films is Rats Of Tobruk, a WWII thriller scripted by Michael Petroni (The Book Thief, Backtrack), which is inspired by stories told to Noyce by his father who was part of the Australian Army that inflicted the first defeat on German forces.