Damien Chazelle’s work as a director has been pretty consistent — musicals, romances — but his work as just a screenwriter is a bit more ... let’s say eclectic. He wrote the Speed in a concert hall movie Grand Piano, and shares writing credits on 10 Cloverfield Lane (Awesome!) and The Last Exorcism Part II (How can the last something have a second movie?). Now another Chazelle screenplay, The Claim, is in development.

At the helm in Chazelle’s place is Ericson Core, who directed Invincible and the remake of Point Break. From the press release, here is the official synopsis:

Casting has commenced for the suspenseful thriller which centers on a single father with a criminal background who must uncover the whereabouts of his kidnapped daughter while fighting the mysterious claims of another couple who insist that the child is theirs.

Once again, writer Chazelle is totally unpredictable and deviates wildly from the more familiar, auteur-y moves of director Chazelle. Then again, Chazelle’s own next project as a filmmaker is a bit of a departure as well; he’s working on First Man, a biopic of Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to step foot on the Moon. (La La Land’s Ryan Gosling will star as Armstrong.) That film’s due in the fall of 2018, with an obvious eye toward major awards consideration. Production on The Claim is supposed to start later this year.

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