Prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom is to hit the film noir trail with The Killer Inside Me, a $13 million adaptation of a novel by Jim Thompson (The Grifters) starring Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba.

Wild Bunch has worldwide sales rights on the film excluding the US which Endeavor is handling. A third major actor will be announced shortly. Shooting will begin in Jan.

A relentless psychological thriller, the film follows West Texas sheriff Lou Ford's descent into violent psychosis. As murder victims begin to pile up in his town, suspicion falls on Lou. He will do anything to escape but he cannot escape what he is.

The film is being produced by Chris Hanley, Robert Weinbach, Bradford Schlei and Winterbottom's regular partner Andrew Eaton.

Production entities are Hanley's Muse and Cyclone. Financing comes from Barbarian Film, Oceana Media and The Indion Entertainment Group.