Director Tommy Wirkola

Back in 2010, Gerard Butler began negotiations to star in the adaptation of Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens’ Red 5 Comics graphic novel ‘Afterburn’. At that time, Antoine Fuqua was attached to direct, but he’s moved on to greener pastures since. Since Butler is still showing interest in the film, Relativity went out and found a new director for the project in the form of Tommy Wirkola, who will direct and rewrite the script, according to THR.

The Norwegian director previously worked on the 2009 Nazi zombie movie ‘Dead Snow’ and the upcoming ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’, which stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

‘Afterburn’ is set in a future where solar flares have wrecked havoc on the Earth, turning half of it into a desolate wasteland filled with mutants, pirates, armies, and bounty hunters. The story centers on a group of treasure hunters who brave the hostile quarantine zone to retrieve priceless artifacts to sell to wealthy Americans.

Neal Moritz, Toby Jaffe, Tobey Maguire, and Ryan Kavanaugh are producing ‘Afterburn’. Yes, the same Tobey Maguire who played Spider-Man. A shooting schedule is still unclear due to Butler’s availability, but considering that the ‘300’ star is the driving force behind the project, I’m sure they’ll work something out.