And just like that another middling thriller gets interesting. The Tourist, which has had some bumps – Tom Cruise was once going to star, for instance – has righted itself with Angelina Jolie and Sam Worthington in the leads. But that’s not what makes it interesting. The film, a remake of a recent French movie called Anthony Zimmer, may be directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who helmed the masterful The Lives of Others.

He’s not signed but Spyglass wants him bad, according to Variety. The movie is about an American tourist – Worthington, whose American accent stinks – who gets mixed up in action when a European INTERPOL agent – Angelina Jolie, whose foreign accents stink – uses him to draw out an international criminal with whom she had an affair. That sounds sort of lame, but von Donnersmarck is a good director, and he’s not been directing for the last three years. Maybe he can bring something less hokey to this film.

If von Donnersmarck joins up, The Tourist could finally get underway next year with a 2011 release date planned.