Antoine Fuqua is in final negotiations to direct Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment’s kidnapping thriller Prisoners based on a screenplay by newcomer Aaron Guzikowski.

Warner Bros plans a late 2010 release on the story about a small-town carpenter who takes the law into his own hands after his young daughter and best friend are kidnapped and clashes with a detective assigned to the case.

Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson are producing, along with 8:38’s Kira Davis and Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner. Robyn Meisinger and Edward McDonnell will serve as executive producers.

Fuqua and the producers are currently out to casting. The director most recently made Brooklyn’s Finest, which was acquired by Overture Films following the collapse of Senator Entertainment.

“Antoine Fuqua has an extraordinary talent to bring tense, action packed thrillers to the big screen,” Johnson and Kosove said. “His take on this material is exciting for us all.”

The studio will release Alcon’s The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock on November 20 and The Book Of Eli with Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman on January 15, 2010.

Fuqua is represented by Scott Greenberg at CAA and Anonymous Content. 

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