Creed II and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts director Stephen Caple Jr has a new thriller to add to his slate.
Lionsgate has a successful history when it comes to backing YA adaptations and the studio is looking to revive those fortunes once again with an adaptation of the yet to be published YA thriller, Thieves’ Gambit, written by Kayvion Lewis.
The studio outbid its rivals to secure the rights to the project and has signalled its intent for a mainstream success by drafting in Stephen Caple Jr to helm the film.
Since making indie drama The Land in 2016, Caple Jr has been at the helm of two big studio pictures. In 2018 he made Creed II before tackling an even bigger production, Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts which is due out in the summer of next year. Clearly, Lionsgate is impressed with the direction of Caple Jr’s career so far and have tapped him up to lead what the studio is hoping will be its next big YA franchise, following in the steps of The Hunger Games films, not to mention the Divergent series.
Caple had this to say about the project in which ‘ a young woman, raised by her parents to be an expert thief, must enter a dangerous and cutthroat competition that pits her against other young talented thieves where the winner takes all:’ “Thieves’ Gambit is such a unique perspective on the beloved heist genre and I am thrilled to be partnering up with Lionsgate and Kayvion to bring audiences a franchise that they can emotionally connect with and grow alongside.”
Should Caple Jr manage to pull off the feat of making Transformers into a less shallow and empty blockbuster series, following the new trajectory for the series that Travis Knight steered towards with 2018’s franchise rehabilitation Bumblebee, his star will continue to rise and Lionsgate will no doubt be even more pleased with its appointment. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
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