The last time Emma Roberts joined something with a canine title we got Hotel For Dogs. Hopefully For The Dogs, an action thriller that has Sam Worthington starring and Jonathan Mostow directing, will be a little heavier on the gunplay and a little lighter on the family bonding over cute pups.
Writer Oren Moverman has adapted Kevin Wignall’s novel into a script that finds Worthington as a solitary assassin who agrees to help a young woman (Roberts) exact revenge on those who murdered her parents and younger brother. His guidance unleashes events that ultimately stoke her thirst for vengeance while he desperately seeks peace and absolution. We’re getting definite Leon vibes here, though it’s too early to compare the two.
For The Dogs has been through a few fluctuations as it traverses development limbo: Philip Noyce was originally aboard to direct Worthington before Mostow replaced him in August last year. Hailee Steinfeld was set as the college-aged young woman out for revenge, but scheduling shifts mean that Roberts is now in place. The project will be flaunting its wares at the European Film Market in the hopes of finding investment and distributors.