Philip Noyce set to direct Hunter Killer

Philip Noyce is probably best known for his political thrillers like Clear and Present Danger, Catch a Fire, and The Quiet American. My personal favorite remains the aborigine escape film, Rabbit-Proof Fence. Noyce has ventured into action a few times as well, most recently with Salt, starring Angelina Jolie.  Looks like he could be jumping back into a similar arena, as Relativity Media has just signed him to direct Hunter Killer, based on the novel Firing Point by George Wallace and Don Keith.

The script by Jamie Moss(X-men: First Class), John Kolvenbach, Arne Schmidt will follow "an untested submarine captain who must work with a Navy SEAL team to rescue the Russian president, who has been taken prisoner during a military coup, in an effort to stop a rogue Russian General from igniting World War III."

The plan is for shooting to begin late this year. Sounds like a pretty conventional action-thriller, complete with a pair of mismatched agents and a lunatic dictator probably spouting about nuclear annihilation.  I trust that Noyce will make chicken salad out of what sounds like chicken crap.