Coming off a strong performance in last year’s Warrior, star Joel Edgerton has committed to writing and starring in the thriller Felony.  Matthew Saville (Noise) is onboard to direct, and the logline is as follows:

Driving home after a celebration drink with his team after the long waited bust of a major gang, a decorated police officer (Edgerton) runs a young cyclist off the road.  As he gives CPR to the child, fellow officers arrive to take his statement.  In a split second decision he tells them a lie about the accident which will change all their lives in this edge of your seat thriller.

Edgerton is making a name for himself not only as an actor, but also as a burgeoning screenwriter.  He stars in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty later this year, and he recently sold his drama script One Night Stand.  Hit the jump for the press release concerning Felony.

Here’s the press release:

Cannes, France.  (May 16, 2012) – Joel Edgerton (WARRIOR, upcoming THE GREAT GATSBY) is set to star in the new thriller FELONY, also written by Edgerton and to be directed by Matthew Saville (NOISE), it was announced today by The Solution Entertainment Group’s (“The Solution”) founders and partners, Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel, and producers Rosemary Blight of Goalpost Pictures Australia (Cannes 2012 Official Selection THE SAPPHIRES) and Joel Edgerton.

The Solution has arranged the financing for the film and Wilson and Nestel will executive produce the feature film which starts shooting in late October

The company will handle international rights to the film which Wilson will introduce to buyers at the Cannes Film Market.   Roadshow Films will distribute in Australia and New Zealand.  CAA is handling the US rights and introduced the product to The Solution.

Driving home after a celebration drink with his team after the long waited bust of a major gang, a decorated police officer (Edgerton) runs a young cyclist off the road.  As he gives CPR to the child, fellow officers arrive to take his statement.  In a split second decision he tells them a lie about the accident which will change all their lives in this edge of your seat thriller.

Goalpost Pictures Australia producer Rosemary Blight said:  “Felony is a distinctive project with exceptional creative talent attached, with Joel Edgerton as both actor and writer and Matthew Saville directing. We are thrilled to be working with The Solution on this exciting film.”

“Rising star Joel Edgerton is an extraordinarily gifted actor who brings such depth to all of his performances and we can’t wait to be able to bring that magic to the big screen,” said Wilson. “The heart-pounding story along with the terrific casting will certainly draw attention to this film in Cannes,” she continued.

Edgerton is an internationally successful Australian actor who will next be seen in Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated THE GREAT GATSBY opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Isla Fisher to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures at Christmas 2012. He rose to international acclaim following his star-making performance in the crime thriller ANIMAL KINGDOM opposite Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver. The film, released via Sony Pictures Classics, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Last year he starred in Gavin O’Connor’s well received WARRIOR opposite Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte released through Lionsgate. He will next be seen in the psychological thriller WISH YOU WERE HERE opposite Teresa Palmer which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by eOne Films in the fall and Disney’s THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN co-starring Jennifer Garner and Rosemarie DeWitt, coming to theatres in August. He is currently shooting The Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Project with Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Mark Strong for Sony Pictures.

Edgerton previously co-wrote THE SQUARE, with Matthew Dabner, which he also starred in alongside David Roberts and Claire van der Boom. His brother, Nash Edgerton, directed the critically acclaimed feature which screened at South by Southwest and was released in the US by Apparition. Edgerton and Dabner won the Best Screenplay Award by the Film Critics Circle of Australia and were nominated for Best Original Screenplay by the Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI Awards).

Australian filmmaker Saville’s feature film debut, NOISE, was a commercial and critical success, winning several awards in his native country as well as being nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He has directed episodes for several television shows including the comedy series WE CAN BE HEROES starring Chris Lilley and the critically acclaimed dramatic TV series, THE SLAP starring Jonathan La Paglia and Melissa George which is a 2012 BAFTA Nominee.  He also directed the television mini-series’ CLOUDSTREET starring Emma Booth, Kerry Foxx and Geoff Morrell. Saville won the 2012 Australian Directors Guild Awards for THE SLAP and CLOUDSTREET for best drama series and mini-series respectively.

Producer Rosemary Blight of Goalpost Pictures most recently produced musical comedy THE SAPPHIRES, directed by Wayne Blair and starring Chris Dowd, Deborah Mailman and Jessica Mauboy, which will premiere as a Gala Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival.  Other credits include Julien Temple’s THE ETERNITY MAN and INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS starring Brenda Blethyn and directed by Cherie Nowlan, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Warner Independent Pictures in the US. Rosemary was Executive Producer of THE TREE directed by Julie Bertuccelli and starring Charlotte Gainsbourg which was closing night film of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Edgerton is repped by CAA, Shanahan Management and Hirsh Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman.

Other titles being offered in Cannes by The Solution include the action thriller NOVEMBER MAN starring Pierce Brosnan and Dominic Cooper directed by Roger Donaldson, WRITERS starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly and Lily Collins, produced by Judy Cairo currently in post-production and GRAND PIANO, starring Elijah Wood produced by Adrian Guerra and Rodrigo Cortes and directed by Eugenio Mira.