Variety reports that Neil Marshall has joined up with Universal to direct James Sallis' novel Drive, with Hugh Jackman attached to star and produce.

Jackman will play a Hollywood stunt driver, who brings in a little extra money by driving getaway cars during heists. But he finds himself jolted out of this calm and peaceful existence when a contract is put out on his life.

Marshall has become a really hot property at Universal since Doomsday was released. (Read what our own Eric Snider thought of it here. Scott Weinberg liked it too. ) He was just signed on to direct Sacrilege, a horror movie set in the Old West, which sounds all kinds of cool. He is pretty excited about Drive, and his enthusiasm is very infectious. "This is something I haven't done before, and I've wanted to bring a British sensibility to an L.A. shoot and a scorched classic film noir concept. [Screenwriter Hossein Amini) is a fantastic writer, and he's written three amazing car chases in the film. He's turned them into dramatic scenes as opposed to the usual crash, bang, wallop. I would like to be shooting it this summer."

Scheduling may force Jackman to drop out, but I sincerely hope not. I'm sold at the combination of him and "scorched classic film noir," because it sounds like a great thrill ride -- plus I'm envisioning Jackman as a kinder, gentler Stuntman Mike. But I'm ridiculously easy to please sometimes.

Part of me really wants to agree with the premise of this article (that there is a resurgence in stories about private eyes and detectives and the mystery genre in general, especially in film), but the author uses Superman Returns, Miami Vice, and X-Men 3 as examples, and that just makes me scratch my head.

But as long as James Sallis is one of the people interviewed, I'm all for it. Of course, calling Sallis "a Phoenix author whose crime novel Drive has been optioned by Universal" is a bit like saying "William Shakespeare, a Stratford-upon-Avon writer, will have his Romeo and Juliet made into a film later this year." Sallis is one of the great writers of our time.

Another way you know this article, a piece about the return of the gumshoe, is woefully incomplete? Brick isn't even mentioned! If anything, it should be the main point in the piece.

Boy, Hugh Jackman's wife must get so sick of seeing his ass on her sofa all day, every day. It's like the guy never does anything - I mean, according to the IMDb, the lazy bastard only has 11 movies due out in the next two years. God damn slacker.

Actually, make it 12: Jackman's added yet another film to that slate, this one a noir-ish action flick that he'll also co-produce. Entitled Drive, the movie will be based on a book by badass crime novelist James Sallis, about "a stuntman who moonlights as a wheelman during robberies and discovers that a contract has been put on him." Awesome. According to Jackman's production partner, the duo see the project as offering the actor "a great Steve McQueen-type role." Did I mention awesome? The quality of Jackman's projects is mind-blowing unpredictable, but this one sounds promising - it'll be nice to see him get into a raw, macho-type role without having to be oddly hairy or battling supernatural enemies.

[via Dark Horizons]