"Prisoners" taken, but thriller's cast will change

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Prisoners," a dark thriller spec script by Aaron Guzikowski, has been acquired and is on its way to the big screen, but Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, who previously had been attached to the project, are no longer part of the package.

Guzikowski's tale looks at a small-town man whose daughter is kidnapped and who responds in vigilante fashion by imprisoning a neighbor he suspects committed the crime. Wahlberg was to play the father and Bale the big-city cop investigating the crimes.

Alcon Entertainment plans to fast-track production and release the movie in October 2010. The company, which will pay mid-six figures, has bested Summit and Relativity, who had been among the companies circling the project but who were not willing to commit to the fast-track schedule.

The film's producers will cast new stars and continue the search for a director.

The script, which Guzikowski developed for several years with management firm Madhouse Entertainment, created a stir this winter when it went out to studios.

Until the sale last week, Guzikowsi was working as an assistant at a New York advertising firm. At a time when studios are delaying projects or not buying them at all, the sale -- which will take a project from spec status to finished film in fewer than 18 months -- is highly anomalous.

Alcon is the producer behind Christopher Nolan's "Insomnia" and upcoming Denzel Washington thriller "The Book of Eli."

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)