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Sam Worthington and Bradley Cooper might be lining up to star in The Texas Killing Fields.

The film is taking a long time to get to the screen, no doubt partly due to its complex, dark subject matter, in which a couple of cops discover their latest case has a connection with the legendary Texas Killing Field incident.

Four bodies were found in the same place between 1983 and 1991, with only two of them identified and all unsolved.

Penned by a Texan police officer, the script has attracted the likes of Danny Boyle, who briefly considered directing the film, but pulled out figuring that it would need megastars to get moving.

Now it might have them, with Bradley Cooper and Sam Worthington attached and some serious clout behind the camera too - Michael Mann is producing the film and wants his daughter, Ami, to direct it.

Whether she'll stay on board is another matter - despite her famous parentage, she's only had limited experience, including some second unit work on Heat.

But with the actors attached, and assuming they find time in increasingly busy schedules, this is one tough movie that might actually make it to cinemas.