Directing duo Marcus Kryler and Fredrik Akerström's action thriller HUMMINGBIRD is racing toward a production start date, and when it comes to the female lead it has been a relay race. It was announced last February that the film would star Zoe Saldana, but when the schedule conflicted with Saldana's work on James Cameron's epic AVATAR endeavor she had to drop out. She was replaced by Olivia Munn back in October… and now, just three and half months after her casting was confirmed, Munn has also left the project.
Stepping in to replace Munn and Saldana is Milla Jovovich – possibly securing herself a new franchise now that the RESIDENT EVIL series is finished (or so they tell us).
HUMMINGBIRD began as a script by John McClain (not to be confused with DIE HARD hero John McClane or real life Senator John McCain) that earned a place on the Black List and is said to be in the vein of the BOURNE films and the 2014 hit LUCY. Jovovich will be taking on the role of
a female black-ops assassin whose latest mark forces her to confront her true identity.
With the casting of Jovovich comes the addition of her husband Paul W.S. Anderson to the creative team. After turning his wife into a superhero in the RESIDENT EVIL movies, he will continue writing her as a badass while doing a revision of the HUMMINGBIRD script.
HUMMINGBIRD is being produced by Mark Gao and Gregory Ouanhon of Fundamental Films and Todd Garner of Broken Road Productions. Fundamental's Gary Glushon serves as executive producer.
The film is expected to go into production this summer. This will mark the feature directorial debut of Kryler and Akerström, who previously directed the cinematic content for the video game BATTLEFIELD 1.