Sony captures Gooding-topped "Linewatch"

Cuba Gooding Jr. at the screening of ''Talk to Me'' at the Mann Village theatre at the Los Angeles Film Festival in Los Angeles June 21, 2007. Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired all worldwide rights to the gang action thriller ''Linewatch'' starring Gooding Jr., Omari Hardwick and Evan Ross.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired all worldwide rights to the gang action thriller "Linewatch" starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Omari Hardwick and Evan Ross.

Gooding plays Michael Dixon, a one-time Los Angeles gang member who escapes his neighborhood to become a respected U.S. border patrol officer in New Mexico. But his peaceful life with his wife and daughter is threatened when a chance encounter leads the gang's psychotic leader, Drake (Hardwick), to his door.

Ross plays Dixon's nephew Little Boy, who sought out Drake as a surrogate father when Dixon disappeared and finds himself in the middle of their conflict. Sharon Leal plays Dixon's wife.

Sony is eyeing a 2008 theatrical release for the Motion Picture Corporation of America production. The film is directed by Kevin Bray ("Walking Tall," "All About the Benjamins") and written by David W. Warfield ("Ocean Park," "Kill Me Again").

Previous MPCA features include "Undisputed," "A Love Song for Bobby Long," "Stephen King's Riding the Bullet," "Dumb and Dumber," "Kingpin" and "Albino Alligator."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter