Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Relativity Media has acquired Borderland, a gritty action thriller that Sheldon Turner will write with an eye toward directing. The tone is modern-day Western meets Magnificent Seven; when a resort town is overrun by cartel violence, a newly installed mayor hires a band of ex and current Special Forces operatives to train them to fight back. The border town becomes a battleground and the operatives get in over their heads. The intention is to give an authentic depiction of post-war life for elite soldiers. Jennifer Klein will produce through Vendetta, the production shingle she and Turner set up together.

Turner, Oscar-nominated for co-writing Up In The Air, will work on this as he finalizes plans to make his feature directing debut on Two Minutes To Midnight, a script of his that had originally been set at Fox but which Klein and Turner got back in turnaround. Turner is also attached to helm By Virtue Fall, which is set at QED and has Armie Hammer and Eric Bana attached. Klein is producing both of those pictures as well as Everest, the Turner-scripted film that Doug Liman will direct at Sony with Tom Hardy attached to play George Mallory. Liman’s Hypnotic partner Dave Bartis is also producing and it will be Liman’s next film.

Relativity Media’s Tucker Tooley put this one together with Turner and Klein. Turner is repped by CAA and attorney David Fox.