ZOMBIELAND Director Ruben Fleischer in Talks to Helm GANGSTER SQUAD

Warner Bros. great director search for Gangster Squad may be coming to a close.  Deadline reports that the studio has begun negotiations with director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland).  Fleischer was one of the potential candidates named for the gig back in November along with Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) and Jose Padilha (Elite Squad).  The project (which has also been titled “Tales from the Gangster Squad”, but Deadline refers to it simply as “Gangster Squad”) also attracted the attention of Ben Affleck and Darren Aronofsky.

Former L.A. cop Will Beall (Castle) wrote the script, which centers on Sgt. John O’Mara and his attempts to bring down the gangster Micky Cohen in the late 1940s.  The tone of Gangster Squad has been compared to The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential.  Hit the jump for a brief refresher on Fleischer’s other projects.

Fleischer is currently working on the comedy 30 Minutes or Less, which is about two wannabe criminals who force a loser pizza delivery man to rob a bank in 30 minutes or less.  The film reunites Fleischer with his Zombieland lead Jesse Eisenberg and also stars Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, and Michael Peña.

Fleischer is also attached to an untitled buddy-cop action-comedy as well as another action-comedy called Babe in the Woods, which was written by Mike White (School of Rock) and is about a female freshman from the Midwest who arrives at Yale and becomes a target of the New Jersey mob.  There’s also Zombieland 2 which I imagine will involve both action and comedy.  Fleischer says it will also include 3D.