Ryan Reynolds joins Atom Egoyan’s ‘Queen of the Night’

Having just wrapped up shooting on his latest film, the West Memphis 3 drama "The Devil's Knot," Canadian director Atom Egoyan is already gearing up for his next project — and he's getting a little help from one of Canada's biggest stars.

Deadline reports that Egoyan has nabbed Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds ("Safe House") for the lead in his next movie, the psychological thriller "Queen of the Night." In what is sure to be a more dramatic turn for the frequently comedic actor, Reynolds will play a father trying to unravel the mystery of his daughter's disappearance eight years prior.

"Queen of the Night" is a bit of an anomaly in the Academy Award-winning Egoyan's career — and not just because of its fairly standard sounding plot and high profile Hollywood lead. The suddenly prolific Canadian filmmaker usually takes years between projects, so the fact that he's moving onto "Queen of the Night" so soon after "Devil's Knot" is a little unusual. The film will also be Egoyan's first film not adapted from previously existing material since 2008's "Adoration."

As for Reynolds, anyone unconvinced of his dramatic chops should see 2008's "Buried." Director Rodrigo Cortes' terrifying and claustrophobic thriller is essentially 94 solitary minutes with Reynolds' character, a civilian contractor in Iraq who has been buried alive in a coffin. "Queen of the Night" will be Reynolds' first Canadian film since the failed 2003 heist flick "Foolproof," though it's best not to talk about that movie.

Egoyan's "Devil's Knot" is set for release some time in 2013, while Reynolds will next be seen in the comic book crime movie "R.I.P.D." out next June.