With Lawless receiving some major buzz at Cannes already (including a bit of our own), director John Hillcoat and star Shia LaBeouf have finally formally attached their names to the next collaboration, after talks happenings over two years ago. Speaking with The Playlist, they firmed up their commitment to the LAPD police film, Triple Nine.

The film will focus on an ensemble of seedy Los Angeles police officers faced with a choice when they realize that one of them must be shot in order for the group to pull off a big heist. Though he has been attached to direct since 2009, Hillcoat waited until he finished Lawless before he confirmed Triple Nine as his next project. Labeouf is the only actor currently confirmed for the film but Hillcoat tells fans to watch out for news, saying that “No one else is attached right now, but about to be.” He did, however, confirm frequent collaborator Warren Ellis will be returning to work on the score, saying:

“To do an L.A. cop thriller, the music to that, we’ve been dying to do something that isn’t fucking period so if we can actually do some contemporary story […] I’m joking about that, but to do a contemporary movie and some modern music…if you give that fucking job to someone else that’s it, you’ll never get another fucking script from me.”

Triple Nine will be produced by Megan Ellison‘s indie production company, Annapurna Pictures, which previously worked on Lawless with Hillcoat. As for who could be announced, Hillcoat denied the rumors that Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges are involved but did tease the potential involvement of other Lawless actors.

“Tom[Hardy].. .Guy [Pearce]… I’ve had the great fortune of working with, they’re all collaborative actors that it would be great to keep working together like Nick [Cave] and my production designer and wardrobe designer, that’s why we keep doing it. […] They’re not all in it because of schedules and such but Shia is and we’ll see where it goes.”

Triple Nine‘s plot sounds twisted enough to be promising and Hillcoat seems truly enthusiastic about the material. It’s been a while since we’ve seen LaBeouf impress, but with this big-budget Transformers in the past, along with his promising recognition for his work in Lawless, things are looking up. Plus, if Hillcoat manages to land Hardy, Pearce, or Gary Oldman for Triple Nine, he’ll certainly have my ticket.

What do you think about this re-team?