James Gray to Direct Boston Crime Film 'White Devil'

For most of his career James Gray has kept a low profile, building a groundswell of loyal fans with gritty crime flicks like The Yards and We Own the Night, and small indie dramas like Two Lovers (a personal favorite). But he's been dipping his toes into different pools of late, co-writing Guillaume Canet's French thriller Blood Ties, and earning a Palm d'Or nomination at Cannes for The Immigrant, and now he's making his first foray into a major studio project being set up at Warner Bros.

Gray will write and direct White Devil, a crime picture that will have him hitting the streets of Boston. Based loosely on the life of John Willis aka White Devil John, a white kid adopted by a Chinese family and ends up rising through the ranks of Boston's Chinese Mafia. It's a local story still fresh in the minds of Boston residents as Willis was just indicted earlier this year on drug charges.

Warner Bros. has this a major priority film, so it looks like Gray's other brewing projects may get put on the backburner. He's been attached to adaptations of The Lost City of Z and The Gray Man, as well as an untitled sci-fi film, but none of these projects have seen much in the way of progress.[Deadline]