Screenwriter Peter Morgan has enjoyed some great success over the past few years, earning Oscar nominations for The Queen and Frost/Nixon, as well as penning critically-acclaimed efforts such as The Last King of Scotland and The Damned United. He also wrote the script for Clint Eastwood‘s thriller Hereafter, which will be released in October of this year.

With all of those notable films under his belt, I am eager to hear about any project that has his name on it, and Pajiba is reporting that he was recently asked to perform an extensive re-write on a “whodunnit” titled Riptide, originally scribed by British writer Richard McBrien. Steve Tisch (Forrest Gump) and William Davies (How to Train Your Dragon) have signed on to produce.

Furthering the report is the recent development that Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf have been offered roles in the film. The report suggested that Pitt was offered the role of the investigator, while LaBeouf would play the young broker.  The brief synopsis reads as follows:

Riptide [is] a “whodunnit” set on board a ship called the Nautica. It’s about a handyman, a young stock broker, and the stock broker’s girlfriend. One of the men is found dead floating in the sea. The girlfriend is found at a nearby hotel. An investigator is called in to figure out what happened and why.

It sound simple enough, but I think we can bet that Morgan will be able to put his own original twist on things. I also have to think that Pitt and LaBeouf would be more-than-interested in working with a writer of such esteemed caliber. It should be interesting to see how the project develops.

What do you think of Morgan writing a whodunnit?

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