You can't keep Frank Darabont out of the joint. The director has just signed on to a new film, Law Abiding Citizen, and like The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, prison features heavily into the story. This time it's a criminal mastermind who is behind bars but still runs the city's rackets. Gerard Butler will play a crusading DA who is trying to stop the bastard.

I have no idea what to make of this movie; the concept could go any direction, and the fact that I've read a couple of different synopses of the story (including one that makes the jailed mastermind out as someone wrongfully imprisoned trying to get revenge) doesn't help. I believe that Darabont could do something interesting with it no matter what the script, which is a Kurt Wimmer special. Hell, he's done The Shield, so some crime action is not outside of his wheelhouse.

Also of interest: Gerard Butler's continued status as the Go To Guy for a certain budget of film. At 40 million, Law Abiding Citizen is pretty cheap, and that's a Butler level film; he's not a big enough star to open a movie but he's got just enough name and face recognition to bump a weekend a few bucks. It's not a bad career to have, but I do wonder if this is the career he wants. The fact that he does romantic films like PS I Love You tells me that he's trying to break into the legit leading man world, trying to be a Clooney or a Pitt. We'll see.

Law Abiding Citizen starts shooting this August in scenic Detroit.