UPDATE: Michael Shannon To Reteam With ‘Mud’ Helmer Jeff Nichols On Warner Bros Project

UPDATE: Took awhile, but I’ve gotten clarity on this Jeff Nichols Warner Bros project, and it was worth the wait. Michael Shannon, the Boardwalk Empire star who turned in a powerhouse performance in Nichols’ Take Shelter and appeared more recently in Mud, will star in Midnight Special, which Nichols wrote and will direct at Warners. Described to me as a contemporary science fiction chase film, the pic will be produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, with Glen Basner and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos the exec producers. Shannon just played a hitman in The Iceman, and he plays General Zod in the Superman reboot Man Of Steel, so he is absolutely on the Warner Bros radar.

PREVIOUS BREAKING, 2:21 PM: After getting raves for his latest film Mud, Jeff Nichols is stepping up to the big league. Warner Bros chief Jeff Robinov just acquired Nichols’ next film, and it will begin production in February. Nichols, who also helmed the Michael Shannon-starrer Take Shelter, is carving an intriguing path to the studio ranks. He’s repped by CAA, Mosaic and Sean Marks, with Shannon repped by CAA and Wetzel Entertainment. Developing…

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