Cannes: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul to Star in Drone Thriller 'Eye in the Sky'

UPDATED: Colin Firth is producing the movie for Entertainment One and his Raindog Films.

CANNES -- Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul will star opposite Colin Firth in Gavin Hood's upcoming morality story Eye in the Sky.

Entertainment One is producing the international drone thriller alongside Firth and Ged Doherty's Raindog Films.

Mirren will star as Colonel Michelle Madden, a military intelligence officer in command of a top secret drone operation. Paul plays American drone pilot, Steve Watts, while Firth's character hasn't been revealed.

From a script by BAFTA winner Guy Hibbert, the film's action kicks off when Madden commands a top-secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya.

The mission escalates from a "capture" to a "kill” operation when Madden realizes the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission. However, a 9-year-old girl enters the kill zone just as the drone pilot is poised to attack, prompting Madden to consult with the British foreign secretary.

Harold van Lier's Sales outfit Entertainment One International is shopping the project at the Cannes Film Festival.

Hood is set to start shooting Eye in the Sky in South Africa in August 2014. Xavier Marchand will oversee production for eOne in close collaboration with eOne's senior vice president of filmed entertainment Benedict Carver.

EOne will directly distribute the film in the UK, Canada, Benelux, Spain, and Australia/New Zealand.

