Rami Malek is in talks to join fellow Oscar winner Denzel Washington in Warner Bros.' crime thriller The Little Things, Collider has confirmed.

John Lee Hancock (The Highwaymen) will direct from his own original screenplay. The story follows Deke (Washington), a burned-out cop up in Kern County who teams with Baxter (Malek), a crack detective from the LA Sheriff’s Department, to catch a serial killer. Deke has a nose for the “little things” that can help solve a case, but he also has a knack for breaking the rules, which poses a problem for Baxter. Meanwhile, Deke has problems of his own, as he’s haunted by a dark secret from his past.

Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad) is producing the mid-budget film, which is expected to start shooting this September as soon as Malek wraps production on Bond 25, in which he plays the villain squaring off against Daniel Craig's 007.

The Little Things feels like a return to Training Day territory for Washington, who won an Oscar for that film, which also earned his co-star Ethan Hawke a nomination. Malek is an equally talented sparring partner, and the two Oscar winners should make for a very intriguing detective duo. WB had hoped to start shooting in the summer, but once Malek sparked to the script, it was obvious to all involved that he was worth waiting for.

Malek was recently seen lip-syncing his heart out as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, which won him an Academy Award and went on to gross $900 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing drama of all time. He'll soon be seen in the fourth and final season of the hit USA series Mr. Robot, which helped make Malek a household name.

He's represented by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and his casting was first reported by Deadline.