Getting its North American debut out in Toronto last year, Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Norwegian thriller, Pioneer, is about to get the US remake treatment.

THR report that Sony are in negotiations to acquire the rights for an American remake, which George Clooney and Grant Heslov will produce through their Smokehouse Pictures shingle.

The original report notes that Clooney is not attached to direct at this stage, and the absence of any mention otherwise presumably means the same goes for Heslov.

Skjoldbjærg’s Pioneer was released in Norway at the tail-end of last summer, before touring the festival circuit with stop-offs in Toronto, Helsinki, London, Chicago, and more. Aksel Hennie leads the original cast alongside Wes Bentley, Stephen Lang, and Stephanie Sigman, with the following synopsis:

Set in the early 1980s during the Norway’s oil boom, Pioneer follows a man who, along with his brother, is laying pipeline in the North Sea, diving deeper than anyone else had before. When a tragic accident strikes, he tries to get to the bottom of it, realizing he’s in way over his head and that his life is in danger.

Provided negotiations go as expected, Clooney, Heslov, and the studio will now look to hire a writer for the English-language remake. After that, we should get a better idea of whether or not Clooney or Heslov will be taking to the helm, and hopefully we’ll hear some casting news along the way, too.

Clooney is coming off the back of The Monuments Men, which failed to win over critics, but pleased audiences aplenty at the weekend, opening to a very healthy $22m. over in the US, stronger than expected opposite animated blockbuster fare in The Lego Movie.

Heslov was last seen behind the camera with his sophomore feature, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and whether it’s on Pioneer or elsewhere, it would be great to see him return soon for his third film as a director.