Finding a piece of news worth writing about can be funny. Today, I was presented with a choice -- I could write up the new release date for Bios even though release dates mean less than nothing right now (let's be honest) or I could write about Michelle Pfeiffer playing Betty Ford (yawn, plus I haven't seen French Exit yet... or The Father, ahem SPC), or I could write about some cool casting news pertaining to Guy Ritchie's new movie. Dear reader, I chose the latter.

Why? Because I'm the guy who really liked The Gentlemen. No, it wasn't on the level of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch, but it was still a return to form for the British filmmaker, whose Aladdin remake I had no qualms skipping. The movie struck just the right balance of comedy and violence, and I loved the ensemble cast led by Matthew McConaughey. So I've been looking forward to Ritchie's new movie Five Eyes, and I'm pleased to learn that it's shaping up quite nicely.

Deadline reports that Hugh Grant and Josh Hartnett are the latest to join the Jason Statham movie, which will be Grant's second time working with Ritchie following his devilishly charming turn in The Gentlemen, which made excellent use of his mischievous smirk. As for Hartnett, it's his biggest movie role in more than a decade -- seriously. Though I Come With the Rain is worth tracking down, Hartnett hasn't been in a truly notable movie since 2007's 30 Days of Night, so a role in Ritchie's latest is something of a coup for him.

You have to understand that I grew up loving Josh Hartnett, who burst onto the scene when I was 14 years old in movies like The Faculty, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, The Virgin Suicides and Black Hawk Down, though it was his chilling turn in the provocative teen drama O that impressed me most. Hartnett would go on to star in genre films like Sin City and the aforementioned 30 Days of Night, but his movie career fell victim to one too many flops like Pearl Harbor, Hollywood Homicide and The Black Dahlia.

I know Hartnett quit acting for a time to move back to Minnesota and avoid the ever-present spotlight that comes with fame, so it's nice to see himself recommitted to his craft and booking cool projects like a new Guy Ritchie movie. Let's just hope Five Eyes is closer to The Gentlemen or The Man From U.N.C.L.E. than, say, Revolver or RocknRolla.

The film stars Statham as an MI6 agent who is recruited by a global intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes to stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA tech expert (Aubrey Plaza), he sets off on a globe-trotting mission to find the billionaire arms broker who holds the fate of the world in his hands. Yup, that sounds like a Jason Statham movie to me! I just wonder if Grant is playing the arms dealer... which could be a fun role for the actor.

Cary Elwes will co-star in the film, which was written by Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, with revisions by Ritchie. Miramax is fully financing Five Eyes, and the company's Bill Block will produce alongside Ritchie and Atkinson. STX has worldwide rights and will handle U.S. distribution of the movie, which is slated to start production in Turkey next month.

Hartnett was last seen alongside Kevin Hart and John Travolta in the Quibi series Die Hart, while Grant is coming off a surprising turn opposite Nicole Kidman in HBO's limited series The Undoing, which I reviewed favorably for Collider, though I'd yet to see the disappointing finale at the time. If only I could "undo" that B+ grade now...