J.J. Abrams Manages to Squeeze Billy Ray into His Mystery Box

Hearing J.J. Abrams has sold a pitch to Paramount isn't a surprise. He pumped adrenaline into the heart of a dead property (Star Trek) and off that success turned a "One for me..." pet project into a commercial hit (Super 8). In between he convinced the studio to make Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with Tom Cruise firmly secured in the lead still. I can't prove it but I get the impression Abrams, and his power at the studio post-Trek, made that happen more than anything else after the public fallout between Cruise and Viacom big-cheese Sumner Redstone.

So when Abrams walks into the top executives' offices and spit-balls ideas for another genre adventure film, they're going to buy it for no other reason than it came from him. Been there, done that, yes the man has a lot of projects on his slate from a producing stand-point in addition to his (recent) official commitment to helm Star Trek 2.

What makes this any different?

According to "TOLDJA," because the screenwriter onboard for the "mystery adventure" project is the great Billy Ray, writer/director behind Shattered Glass and Breach (both recommended viewing) as well as screenwriter on State of Play (which I liked despite some miscasting and it not being the BBC mini-series) and The Hunger Games, the latter may be a gravy-train hit that'll put his grandkids through college.

As per usual with Abrams, who the Hell knows what it's about. But it's an intriguing enough combo to strike my curiosity.