Shane Black returns!

Even though it brought him back from self-imposed exile, Shane Black’s excellent and criminally underseen quip-filled modern noir KISS KISS BANG BANG didn’t quite get him LETHAL WEAPON-level attention.

Now he’s following up his solid directing debut with another effort… but surprisingly, not from his own script — Black is directing Universal’s COLD WARRIOR. Written by Chuck Mondry, the story involves “a spy from the Cold War era who comes out of retirement to team with a younger agent from the new school to confront a domestic terrorism threat orchestrated by Russia .”

Sounds like it could have plenty of opportunity for Black’s brand of banter and dark humor (and maybe a meaty part for his former burned-out LA cop Mel Gibson?). Mondry (and his writing partner Anthony Bagarozzi, who’s producing) followed in Black’s high-paid footsteps — back in 2000 they sold an action script for a cool million before the “spec market” crashed.