Mark Wahlberg Is taking 'Prisoners'

Well this one came out of the blue, much like the 'Low Dweller' last year that immediately attraced Leo Dicaprio and Ridley Scott, a spec script from unknown Aaron Guzikowski called 'Prisoners' gets a bunch of studios bidding like crazy and already a big name in Mark Wahlberg attached to star. The premise described below sounds fantastic and it is always great to see new screenwriters breaking through and original material actually being sought after by the ever cautious studios.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood right now?

It's a dark thriller from a writer who just signed with a major talent agency two weeks ago -- but has the attachment of Mark Wahlberg and the interest of nearly every major studio in town.

The previously unknown Aaron Guzikowski, a Brooklyn native who flew out to Los Angeles just a few weeks ago and signed with Endeavor, is behind "Prisoners," a project said to have echoes of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven."

The story concerns a Boston family-man whose 6-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped and then takes matters into his own hands by in turn kidnapping the man he suspects responsible.

Guzikowski was noticed two years ago by management company Madhouse Entertainment, which then worked to develop this script through dozens of iterations (the company also will produce).

But all that toil seems to paying a quick dividend.

The Endeavor-repped Wahlberg, a Boston native who also plays a distressed father in Peter Jackson's upcoming "Lovely Bones," attached himself to the script shortly after the Endeavor signing. (Endeavor would not comment on the project.)

Studios, meanwhile, have been clamoring for rights the past few days, but Endeavor is keen on attaching a director before making a sale. A director is expected to be attached next week.

And a rags-to-riches tale may continue to be written for a long time after that.

After a really poor 2008 with duds 'The Happening' and 'Max Payne' this sounds like just the right project to get Wahlberg back in form. The fact this is been compared to two titans of the thrilelr genre 'Seven' and 'Silence of the Lambs' is quite exciting and certainly a lot to live up. the fact a director is expected to be attached next week suggests this really is a hot one but we will be able to gauge just how hot by who they get.