Daniel Espinosa to direct former Ridley Scott project, 'Child 44'

After establishing himself as a filmmaker of note with his Swedish crime thriller, Snabba Cash, Daniel Espinosa made the jump to Hollywood with Safe House. The Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds flick turned out to be a pretty successful American debut, and now he's going to stick around awhile by taking on a project that once had Ridley Scott in line to direct.


Espinosa is in negotiations to direct an adaptation of Child 44, a Cold War-era set story from author Tom Rob Smith and adapted for the screen by Richard Price(Clockers). Smith's book is the first in a trilogy, which follows MGB agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of murders in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. The story is based in part on the killings committed by Ukranian serial killer, Adrei Chikatilo, known as the Rostov Ripper, who killed north of 50 women and children up until 1990. He was ultimately captured and executed in 1994.

The project is now housed over at Summit Entertainment, with Ridley's Scott Free producing, and clearly they like the franchise potential of another mature crime procedural. They seem to be all the rage right now, don't they? Espinosa did a solid job with Safe House, and this gives him a shot to show he can do something a little different. [Deadline]