James McAvoy to Star in 'Welcome to the Punch'

James McAvoy has signed to star in Welcome to the Punch, a London-set action thriller that will be directed by Eran Creevy, who made his directorial debut with 2008’s Shifty.

He’ll play Max, a detective, who is pursuing an ex-con who has just returned to London.

The film will be produced by Creevy’s partners Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh and the company Between the Eyes. Scott Free Prods.’ Ridley Scott and Liza Marshall are exec producing along with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, president of Automatik, which will finance the film, and Alliance president Charles Layton and IM Global CEO Stuart Ford.

IM Global will launch international sales next month at Cannes, with Alliance distributing in Canada, the U.K. and Spain.

McAvoy, repped by UTA and the U.K.’s United Agents, is currently appearing in Robert Redford’s The Conspirator and will next be seen in Fox’s X-Men: First Class.