Jack O'Connell to Star in Spy Thriller, 'Section 6'

It's all happening extremely fast for rising star Jack O'Connell. With a string of notable performances in films like This is England, Harry Brown, and the current Berlin Film Festival darling '71, the 23-year-old actor is moving up to the big time. He'll go to war as part of Warner Bros.' 300: Rise of an Empire, and impressed Angelina Jolie enough that she made him the star of her WWII drama, Unbroken. And apparently he also won over Universal, who want to bring O'Connell back for spy thriller, Section 6.

According to The Wrap, O'Connell is set for the "younger lead" role in the film, which tells the true story of Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming and the WWI-era formation of spy agency, MI6. Yes, the one that's always in the James Bond movies. This is a major project for the studio, paying a hefty $1.2M for Aaron Berg's script and eying it as a potential franchise starter.

A lot of big names have been circling Section 6 but there's no director attached just yet. Justin Lin and Brett Ratner had been taking a look at it at one point, and Hugh Jackman was said to be interested in the other lead role.