Getting to play John McClane’s sidekick ought to boost your own action star cred — well, if you’re not Justin Long — so Jai Courtney‘s already off to a decent start with his leading man days. Part of this step toward a big career, maybe one not unlike that of Bruce Willis himself, will be Felony, a police drama-thriller starring Joel Edgerton and Tom Wilkinson.

Matthew Saville will direct from a screenplay by the former star, wherein he’s cast as a police officer whose late-night drinking and driving leads to the death of a cyclist — one which he covers up — along with an investigation into what really happened. Courtney comes in here, playing “a fresh-faced police detective” who starts to zero in on Edgerton‘s character, working with the likes of Wilkinson to bust his corrupt self.

Having not seen Courtney do any acting quite yet, his prospects are something which, I’m sorry to say, can’t be gauged. But, hey, if they’re putting him in tandem with the likes of Edgerton and Wilkinson, there should be a little extra something going on with the guy. We’ll start to hear more when Felony begins shooting withing a month or so.

Next up, THR tell us rapper Kid Cudi (also known as Scott Mescudi) will take a shot at the acting game with Two Night Stand. As you may recall, Ruben Fleischer will produce for Max Nichols, a debut director who’s at the command of Miles Teller (Project X, Rabbit Hole) and Analeigh Tipton (Damsels in Distress; Crazy, Stupid, Love.)

Using a Black List screenplay by Mark Hammer, Stand centers on two young folks (Teller and Tipton) whose one-night stand becomes a longer engagement after being trapped indoors by the heavy snow; they, of course, need to learn more about one another in that time. Mescudi will be features as Stand‘s female lead’s roommate (Jessica Szohr), a part that should give him a bit more screentime than a fourth-level part would initially suggest. If he can give a good turn — something I’m not entirely aware of — then Nichols might have a real dynamite cast on hand.

Do you believe Courtney or Cudi might affect the chemistry of either film?