Justin Lin to Direct Crime Thriller ‘Stakehorse’ for Amazon MGM

Justin Lin has come aboard to direct Stakehorse, a crime thriller set up at Amazon MGM Studios.

Lin and his Perfect Storm Entertainment banner will also produce the feature, joining Todd Lieberman and Alex Young of Hidden Pictures on the project.

Justin Piasecki wrote the script, much of which is being kept in the stable. It is known that it centers on a horse veterinarian who has a side hustle doing medical work for criminals who may need work off the books.

Sources say the project is tonally similar to The Town, the crime thriller directed by Ben Affleck. The script landed near the top of the 2023 Black List.

Perfect Storm’s Andrew Schneider and Sal Gatdula will exec produce.

Lin is known for his action tentpoles, including several Fast and Furious movies and the last Chris Pine-led Star Trek movie, although he got his start by making his semi-autobiographical drama, Better Luck Tomorrow.

He is going back to his indie drama roots as his next directorial effort will be Last Days, his passion project that will begin shooting in Thailand at the end of April.

But he hasn’t left the studio world behind and has at least two star and IP-driven projects in very active development, including the Charlize Theron-Daniel Craig thriller Two for the Money, set up at Apple, and One Punch Man, Sony’s adaptation of the popular manga, currently being rewritten by Dan Harmon and Heather Anne Campbell.