Hot on the heels of his Academy Award nomination for 'Incendies,' Denis Villeneuve is set to direct the upcoming thriller 'Prisoners' for Alcon Entertainment, which just signed Hugh Jackman as its lead.

THR reports that Jackman will play a carpenter (like Jesus!) whose daughter and best friend are kidnapped, inspiring him to take matters into his own hands (like Jesus!), abducting the man he believes to be responsible.

The script comes courtesy of Aaron Guzikowski, who's most recent effort was the Universal picture 'Contraband.'

The script previously drew interest from Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, though strangely not Liam Neeson, whose very specific set of skills are apparently too specific for this role.

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