UK producer Robert Jones, whose credits include The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill, But Came Down A Mountain and The Usual Suspects, is striking a first-look deal with FilmFour, the company announced on Friday.

The first three projects under the deal with Jones' London-based production outfit Jonescompany Productions include The New City. The adaptation of Stephen Amidon's US novel is about a feud between two mayoral candidates in a Utopian city. Jones is currently attaching a writer to the project.

Additionally, Nick Stafford is adapting his stage play Battle Royal for Jonescompany and North West One Films. The story revolves around Queen Caroline and King George IV's tempestuous marriage.

Also in the works is the previously announced Jack Sheppard And Jonathan Wild, which Ben Ross is to shoot early next year.

FilmFour chief executive Paul Webster and Jones have a long-standing relationship that goes back to the days of distributor Palace Pictures in the 80s. FilmFour previously backed Jonescompany's Simon Magus.

The deal with Jones follows hard on the heels of last week's first-look arrangement between FilmFour and Andrea Calderwood. Webster commented: "First-look deals with producers are a relatively new thing in the UK. They are hard to manage and open to exploitation. But, with Robert and his team at Jonescompany, we know from experience what good partners they are."

Jones added: "I thought hard about whether Jonescompany should go for a first-look deal and decided it made absolute strategic sense to cement our already important relationship with FilmFour."