It looks like an adaptation of one of crime novelist Jo Nesbø’s books is coming close to fruition.  A few years ago, Working Title purchased Nesbø’s The Snowman and Summit acquired the rights to Headhunters, but neither project has materialized in the ensuing time.  Last year, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the upcoming novel Blood on Snow as a potential starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, and now Deadline reports that Safe House director Daniel Espinosa is in talks to develop to direct the adaptation.  Now, “develop to direct” isn’t the same as “direct in the next few months” so we still may be a ways off from the Blood on Snow film, but this is certainly a step forward.  Hit the jump for more.

Per Deadline, Espinosa and Warner Bros. will now go out to writers in order to draft a screenplay for Blood on Snow.  The story revolves around a hit man forced to go into hiding after he fails a job and finds himself on the run with his intended target, who also happens to be his boss’ wife.  DiCaprio is still eyeing the project as a starring vehicle, but he likely won’t make a final decision until the script comes in.  Blood on Snow is a two-book series that Nesbø wrote under the pseudonym Tom Johansson, with the first installment to be published this fall followed by the second next spring.  DiCaprio is also onboard to produce the film through his Appian Way banner.

Espinosa is a Swedish filmmaker who came to prominence with 2010’s Easy Money before making his American film debut on the 2012 R-rated thriller Safe House, which grossed an impressive $208 million at the worldwide box office.  Espinosa most recently directed the 1950s Soviet thriller Child 44 starring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, and Noomi Rapace, which opens in theaters this fall.  He was also mentioned in connection with the Assassin’s Creed movie a few months ago, though there has been no confirmation on that front as of yet.