See what we did there? Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell, the writers of this year's Liam Neeson vehicle Unknown, have pitched a new project to Vin Diesel. Specific details are currently very thin, but Diesel and his producing partner Samantha Vincent were clearly impressed enough to set it up under their One Race banner.
What we do know is that it's an action thriller, stemming from the prior relationship formed between Diesel, Butcher and Cornwell when they were working on a film version of Diesel's Wheelman videogame for Paramount. That now seems to have well and truly stalled, but Diesel and Vincent are confident that "Butcher and Cornwell understand how to write intelligent action thrillers that translate to an international audience."
It all seems part of a deliberate strategy by Vin to juggle the old and the new. Fast and Furious 6 is in the works, along with the third **Riddick, which starts shooting in Canada in September. But there's also family fantasy comedy The Machine to come, about a government military cyborg who becomes best friends with a little boy. We're trying to pretend that one isn't happening.
This new untitled unknown project is apparently being fast-tracked, so with Riddick next, and Fast Six aiming at a release date in spring 2013, perhaps The Machine will quietly go away.
Diesel, who's usually good at revealing news himself, hasn't yet mentioned the new film on his Facepage, but he does say he hopes we always have a reason to smile. Bless.