Winchester Films has boarded $8m action thriller Soul Assassin starring Skeet Ulrich and Kristy Swanson as international sales agent. Winchester will launch the film, which started shooting on Monday, at London Screenings and MIFED.

Directed by Larry Malkin and produced by well-known Dutch distributor-producer San Fu Maltha, Soul Assassin is being shot in Amsterdam and part-financed by the Dutch government's tax incentive scheme introduced in 1997 to encourage private investment in local film production.

Ulrich stars in the film as a US securities expert working abroad for a multinational financial company who discovers that all his training has been part of a master plan to turn him into a corporate assassin.

First-time director Malkin and Chad Thumann scripted the film which is being produced by Maltha's Fu Works and Malkin's Parabolic Pictures. Also in the cast are veteran Dutch actors Derek De Lint (Soldier Of Orange, All Men Are Mortal, Three Men And A Baby), Antonie Kamerling (Little Blond Death, Suite 16) and Thom Hoffman (The Fourth Man, Orlando).

Winchester's US president Hadeel Reda brought the project in to the company. "We were attracted to Soul Assassin because of its commercial appeal and its unique blend of European and American talent," she said.