EXCLUSIVE: Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Christopher Walken will join Colin Farrell in black comedy "Seven Psychopaths," which HanWay is selling at Cannes.

Directed and penned by "In Bruges" helmer Martin McDonagh, pic will be produced by Blueprint Pictures' Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin plus Annapurna's Meghan Ellison.

Film4 is partnering with Blueprint and Annapurna with Tessa Ross as exec producer.

Story follows a screenwriter (Farrell) struggling for inspiration for his script, "Seven Psychopaths," who gets drawn into the dog kidnapping schemes of his oddball friends (Rockwell and Walken). Things take a turn for the worse when a gangster's (Rourke) mutt goes missing.

The project reunites McDonagh, Broadbent, Czernin, Ross and Farrell, who all worked together on hitman pic "In Bruges."

Published on May 13, 2011

In his 2008 movie, In Bruges, writer and director Martin McDonagh proved his mastery of black comedy. Starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a pair of hitmen hiding out in the Belgian city - a city which, as depicted in the film, is not only one of the most boring places on Earth, but may also be a Boschian gateway to hell - In Bruges is undoubtedly one of the finest gangster-based comedy dramas of recent years.

A spectacular feature debut from McDonagh, it's great news that In Bruges will soon be followed up by another black comedy, this one going under the brilliantly unsubtle title of Seven Psychopaths. That killer title has already drawn in a stellar cast, with Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Den Of Geek favourite, Christopher Walken, joining previous collaborator, Colin Farrell, on the project.

According to Variety, who broke the story, Farrell stars as a writer struggling to complete his latest script, also called Seven Psychopaths, but soon becomes embroiled in some sort of dog kidnapping caper thanks to his two friends, played by Rockwell and Walken. Mickey Rourke will play the decidedly upset gangster whose dog is kidnapped.

It sounds completely bizarre, but then again, McDonagh was the director who previously brought us the unforgettable sight of Colin Farrell delivering a karate chop to a dwarf's throat. From an imagination as marvellously warped as that, we can only expect the unexpected.