Neeson set to walk among the tombstones

Liam Neeson is to star in the long-awaited A Walk Among the Tombstones, a mystery based on a popular crime novel.

As the world’s cinema stars converged on Cannes, France, for the city’s film festival, it emerged the Irishman and Wrath of the Titans star is to feature in the adaptation from the book of the same name in the Lawrence Block series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Exclusive Media and Cross Cree Pictures disclosed when announcing it had struck a three-year development, 50:50 financing, and producing deal.

Neeson will play Matt Scudder at the time he is an ex-New York policeman and unlicensed private detective who is hired to find the kidnapped wife of a drug dealer.

Scudder was previously played by Jeff Bridges in the 1986 adaptation 8 Million Ways to Die.

The project was long set up at Universal, and had Harrison Ford attached to star at one point.

Cross Creek announced last year it would finance the film, with DJ Caruso as director.

Meanwhile, Sean Bean has signed up to star in a Second World War action-horror film.

The Game Of Thrones star, who was recently arrested on suspicion of harassing his ex-wife, will play a charismatic British sergeant major in the film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the cast will include Tom Savini and Craig Conway in the Shaun Robert Smith-directed film.

The story focuses on a brigade of British soldiers sent into mainland Europe who come up against a Nazi scientist-created, all-powerful fighting force.

The 4th Reich is scheduled to shoot this summer.

Meanwhile, martial arts star Jackie Chan revealed he wants to be like Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino and do something totally different as he vowed his latest film would be his last big action picture.

Speaking at Cannes to launch Chinese Zodiac, he said he would leave the world of big budget films behind but would not disappear from the screen.

The Hong Kong-born actor, 58, said: “I’ve been fighting and doing action films all my life, you’ve got to find a point to stop.

“With this movie I’m the director, I’m the writer, I’m the producer. So OK, I think it’s a good time to announce that it’s my last big action movie. I would still do action movies but not a big one like this.”

The film, due for release in December, is the third in Chan’s Armour Of God series. The first film was released in 1987, with Chan playing the Indiana Jones-style character Asian Hawk.

He said he wants to be like other well-known actors and take on a directorial role, and would consider a drama or a love story or even something like The Sound Of Music.