Brad Pitt to become The Gray Man?

Brad Pitt might currently have his hands full with marauding zombies on World War Z , but the star has reportedly taken a break from all the brain splattering to line up his next big role.

Variety reports that Pitt is in talks to star in The Gray Man as the world’s greatest assassin, charged with fighting his way across Europe in order to save the life of his handler and their family.

Two Lovers director James Gray is heading up the project, with Adam Cozad’s script having been plucked from last year’s Black List of the best unproduced screenplays.

Adapted from the thriller of the same name by author Mark Greaney, the story will cast Pitt as a former CIA operative who soon learns there are shadowy government forces out to get him.

Pitt had been linked to the project back in November, but things appear to have become more advanced since Gray’s appointment in January. As for Gray himself, he seems to be thinking clearly as to where he wants the film to go, and how he’d like it to differ from the similar-sounding Bourne films.

“What [ Paul Greengrass ] did was a documentary-style, objective approach,” he told Deadline earlier this year. “He owns that style. I want to do the opposite, which feels like a good way to sympathize with a professional hitman. You humanize him by never distancing yourself from his experience.”

Nothing has been confirmed as yet, but Gray is targeting a start date for early next year.