Back in February when he was fresh off his Oscar-win, Danny Boyle told MTV he was considering a project called The Texas Killing Fields, which was in no way related to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but does speak to people's fear of the Lone Star State and their decision not to mess with it.  The plot is mostly under wraps but it concerns two cops who discover that a recent murder in their jurisdiction is connected to the notorious "Killing Fields Murders."

While Boyle ultimately decided not to do the film (he has since moved on to direct the survival tale 127 Hours), it has now moved into the hands of Ami Mann, daughter of Michael Mann (Heat), with Bradley Cooper and Sam Worthington attached to star.  Click the jump for more details.

Boyle loved the script for Killing Fields but didn't think the movie would happen without a "half-dozen megastars".  For some reason Boyle didn't consider himself a draw for a studio even though he had just come off a win for Best Director and Slumdog Millionaire, which had also grossed over $100 million at the U.S. box office with only a production budget of $15 million.

But instead of needing six megastars to make the movie happen, it turns out that two will do just fine as Bradley Cooper and Sam Worthington, a couple of the biggest breakout stars of this year, have signed on to star in the film.  Cooper starred in the smash hit The Hangover and next summer stars in Joe Carnahan's film adaptation of The A-Team.  Worthington is still a bit of an unknown.  He was one of the few bright spots in Terminator Salvation but whether he can lead Avatar or Clash of the Titans to box office success remains to be seen.

At the helm is Ami Mann, a complete unknown beyond being the daughter of Michael Mann (who will produce Texas Killing Fields).  Mann the younger was the second unit director on Mann the elder's Heat and she also spent a long time developing Racing the Monsoon, although that project is probably dead.  Now she has two superstars and a film that Danny Boyle wanted to do but didn't have faith it would get made.

[Pajiba]