Nightcrawler pretty much guaranteed our excitement for whatever Dan Gilroy does next. As it turns out, we won’t have to wait much longer to see what that is, as the director of the acclaimed 2014 thriller is developing a new legal drama, with Denzel Washington reportedly circling the lead role — which already makes this sound like one heck of a film.

Variety reports that Gilroy is set to write and direct Inner City, a new legal drama described as “a character study in the vein of Paul Newman’s 1982 classic The Verdict” — that’s not a comparison that gets made very often, if ever. Washington is eyeing the lead role in Gilroy’s latest project, which seems to have the early makings of an awards season favorite. The film centers on a Los Angeles lawyer coping with “a major change” at the company where he works.

Washington can be seen in next month’s The Magnificent Seven, the remake of the ’60s western classic (itself a remake of Seven Samurai) that reunites him with Training Day and The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua. In addition, he recently made his directorial debut with Fences, which hits theaters in December. Based on the acclaimed August Wilson play, Washington also stars in the film opposite Viola Davis.

More From ScreenCrush