Boy, does that Gerard Butler put his name on a lot of projects. Let’s just go down the current list as a quick refresher: Motor City, Olympus Has Fallen, Hunter Killer, and Afterburn — all of which are, realistically, supposed to shoot in 2012. It’s now time to add one more to that list, as Deadline pegs him to be in advanced negotiations for Manhunt, an actioner currently slated for Breck Eisner (The Crazies) to direct.

Scripted by Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby (Children of Men, Iron Man), the picture revolves around a group of FBI agents in North Carolina, tasked with capturing their #1 target, “domestic terrorist and survivalist James Tollan.” Despite the help of an ever-versatile bear hunter, however, they’re faced with some grave danger when Tollan, as a survivalist, uses his knowledge of the land to fight back. But you can bet that bear hunter also knows a thing or two!

My mind instantly goes to something like First Blood, or even William Friedkin‘s better-than-its-reputation-suggests The Hunted — two films I like a lot, and two films whose basic concept could be improved upon in varying fashions. Fergus and Otsby have been a little hit-or-miss for me, screenplay-wise, sure, but two people behind Children of Men always have my trust, anyway. Butler? He’d work as a bear hunter or domestic terrorist; I mean, he can certainly pull off the strength or disheveled look required of one or the other.

Double A Pictures, Danny DeVito‘s Jersey Films, and Film 360 will produce; shooting is expected to begin at the end of the year.

How does Manhunt compare to some other recent films Butler’s become attached to?