Filmmaker Joseph Kosinski is looking to step out of the sci-fi realm.  The visually-gifted director behind Tron: Legacy and Oblivion has become attached to direct the true crime story The Trials of White Boy Rick for Universal Pictures, per THR.  Based on a story by Evan Hughes published in The Atavist last month, the film will tell the true tale of Rick Wershe, a teen living in Detroit in the 1980s who rose to prominence on the predominantly black East Side as a prolific cocaine trafficker by the name of “White Boy Rick.”  Hughes uncovered the truth of Ricky, which was that he was working as an undercover informant for the FBI and DEA while becoming one of the biggest drug dealers in Detroit.  More after the jump.

The Trials of White Boy Rick marks a departure for Kosinski, who dabbled in heavy sci-fi for his first two features.  2013’s Oblivion was visually impressive but ultimately a bit dull, and I’ve been curious to see how the filmmaker would follow-up that project.  Most recently he attached himself to 20th Century Fox’s car-racing drama Go Like Hell as a reteam with Tom Cruise, but the last update we heard on that project was nearly a year ago when word broke that the filmmaker was looking to possibly cast Brad Pitt in the film as well.  With Cruise busy on Mission: Impossible 5 and Pitt working with Angelina Jolie, it doesn't sound like that project is coming to fruition any time soon.

Kosinski has also been attached to helm a secretive film for MRC and The Twilight Zone for Warner Bros., but the current status of those two projects is unknown.  White Boy Rick actually sounds like the most promising of the bunch, and hopefully Kosinski is able to put together a better script that his previous two features.  The sharp change in tone and scope could mark an exciting challenge for the filmmaker.