Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood has settled on his next project.  Deadline reports that Hood will helm the contemporary action thriller Eye in the Sky for Entertainment One, with Colin Firth attached to produce and star in the military drone-centric pic.  Scripted by Guy Hibbert (Five Minutes of Heaven), the story revolves around a London-based military intelligence officer who is remotely commanding a top secret drone operation with the aim of capturing a group of terrorists in Nairobi.  When she realizes the terrorists are on a suicide mission, she must alter her plans.  Meanwhile, an American drone pilot (presumably played by Firth) is tasked with destroying the safe house, only to run into trouble when a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone.

Hit the jump for more on the timely project, including how soon it will come to fruition.

This is certainly topical material for both Firth and the Tsotsi director, and Firth’s aim with his production company Raindog Films is to make challenging films.  Per Deadline, production on Eye in the Sky is posed to get underway August 11th in South Africa, so the film could hit theaters by 2015.

Firth is just coming off a leading turn in Matthew Vaughn’s actioner The Secret Service, opening this October, and he also stars in Woody Allen’s next film Magic in the Moonlight.  Additionally, he provides the lead voice for this Christmas’ family film Paddington.

As for Hood, he most recently helmed Ender’s Game to disappointing box office results.  Though Summit had aimed at kicking off a franchise with the sci-fi adaptation, the film’s release was mired in controversy surrounding author Orson Scott Card and failed to catch on with audiences.  As a result, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing any more Ender films coming to fruition in the near future.