Variety is exclusively reporting that Brad Peyton, who directed the film adaptation of the video game Rampage, will be directing the character-driven action thriller Sniper Elite, which is inspired by the stealth-shooter video game franchise of the same name.

The film will follow an elite Allied sniper, Karl Fairburne, engage in a cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of London at the height of the Blitz during World War II, as he tries to save British Prime Minister Winston Churchill from a Nazi assassin.

The video game series, developed by Rebellion Developments, started in 2005 and has seen multiple sequels and spinoffs since then, with the franchise selling more than 30m units. The film is being produced by Marla Studios’ Jean-Julien Baronnet and Jason Kingsley, the game’s producer and CEO of Rebellion. Brad Peyton will be co-writing the script alongside Gary Graham.

The report from Variety also spoke with the producers, which had some interesting information about the project, with Baronnet talking about the intriguing elements of the story: Fairburne’s backstory a German sniper working for the Allies, as well as the personal relationship that exists between the opposing snipers and the ‘secret reason’ stopping them killing each other. There will also be a very strong female character in the story who will be Churchill’s assistant.

In the report, Jean-Julien Baronnet said:

It’s a very, very character-oriented show, where our two snipers are linked by these intimate secrets. The problem is that we love both snipers. If you have a sniper that wants to execute his mission, but has human feelings, who has sensitivity, who is a professional but has to deal with his own humanity, that’s where it becomes interesting.

Jason Kingsley also had this to say about the project:

We wanted to twist and tweak the viewers’ expectations as to what they’d get from a movie like this. It’s a really, really compelling piece of scriptwriting, and great performances will be needed from the best actors we can get hold of. It’s a real, proper piece of drama, which just happens to be inspired by our computer game.

It will be interesting to see who they cast for the project.