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JCVD's Mabrouk El Mechri Directing 'The Cold Light of Day'

by Alex Billington
March 16, 2010

Ever since I first got to see JCVD a few years ago, I've been following French-Algerian director Mabrouk El Mechri, as I love his dark, gritty style and I think he's on the way to breaking out big. Although last year it was announced that he would be directing Jessica Alba in Insiders and potentially helming a remake of Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Variety reported earlier today that Summit has hired El Mechri to direct a new thriller called The Cold Light of Day, about a young American whose family is kidnapped while on vacation to Spain, leaving him with only hours to find them and uncover a government conspiracy.

No cast for this project has been announced yet, but Oscar winning writer Steve Zaillian (All the King's Men, American Gangster, Welcome to the Rileys) is executive producing along with Trevor Macy, Marc D. Evans and Garrett Basch. The Cold Light of Day screenplay was originally written by Scott Wiper (A Better Way to Die, The Condemned) and John Petro and is currently being revised by Richard Price (Ransom, Shaft). This sounds like another Taken-inspired concept, but I'm curious to see what El Mechri can bring to the project and who he ends up casting. We'll keep you updated either way, as this film is definitely on my radar now.