James McAvoy Joins Crime Thriller WELCOME TO THE PUNCH

Movie James McAvoy about 13 years agoby Ben Pearson

Coming off his portrayal of a young Charles Xavier in the upcoming X-Men: First Class, James McAvoy has joined the cast of a movie called Welcome to the Punch.

Eran Creevy wrote the script and will direct this project, which is being hailed as “an epic crime thriller in the mould of Heat or Internal Affairs.” Creevy drew some praise for his directorial debut, a 150,000 dollar film called Shifty that was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2008. The Playlist has read the Punch script, and they describe it like this:

It involves a London detective, Max Lewinsky (the role we imagine is earmarked for McAvoy), whose old nemesis, an armed robber known as Red Diesel, reappears after five years away—but it’s only the tip of a massive conspiracy.

Filming on Welcome to the Punch begins in July. McAvoy will next appear on the big screen this Friday in The Conspirator, Robert Redford's film about the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination. Interested? Sound off in the comments.