Statham reads Blitz

Jason Statham will probably flex more acting muscles than his chiseled torso when he heads back to England for BLITZ, an upcoming adaptation of Ken Bruen’s gritty London cop tale.

According to Crimespree Cinema, the movie will pair Statham’s homophobic detective Brant with the great Paddy Considine (HOT FUZZ) as an openly gay cop.

The synopsis: “The south-east London police squad are suffering collective burnout: with tragic deaths, excessive habits, uncontrollable anger and the wrong kind of friendships, the team never had it so bad. When a serial killer takes his show on the road, things get progressively worse. Nicknamed ‘The Blitz,’ a vicious murderer is aiming for tabloid glory by killing cops. Harold Dunphy, Ace crime reporter, thinks he’s on to the story of the decade, and the police have all the incentive they need to catch their criminal – before they get caught first!”

Elliott Lester will direct BLITZ from a script by MOON writer Nathan Parker. The Brant character has appeared in several Bruen books, so maybe Statham is searching for a new franchise now that the TRANSPORTER series seems to be in the garage for storage. But no worries, he’ll still be doing his share of kicking, punching and shooting in THE EXPENDABLES, THE KILLER ELITE and the remake of THE MECHANIC.