Austin Butler to Lead Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Caught Stealing’ at Sony

Sony Pictures has acquired Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller “Caught Stealing,” which will star Austin Butler.

The film follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.

“I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life. I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers,” said Oscar-nominated director Aronofsky, whose credits include “The Whale,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan.”

Charlie Huston will pen the script, which is based on his book of the same name. Protozoa will produce.

“Darren is one of the most brilliant audiovisual storytellers in the world, and adapting these wonderful books by Charlie Huston for Austin to star was too exciting an opportunity to not be a part of,” said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch.

Butler was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor of his starring role in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.”  He is can currently be seen in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic “Dune: Part 2” and in Apple TV’s miniseries “Masters of Air.” Up next, Butler will star in Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” and Sony’s 3000 Pictures film adaptation of “City on Fire,” which he will also produce with David Heyman and Shane Salerno.

Aronofsky is repped by CAA, Narrative and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Butler is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern and The Lede Company. Huston is repped by Katz Golden Lerner and Writers House.

Deadline was first to report the news.