“One of the hottest scripts in town…” Those are some big words to come from the Hollywood Reporter this evening who have announced that Mark Wahlberg (The Lovely Bones, The Happening, Boogie Nights) is attached to topline a dark thriller entitled Prisoner, which is said to echo The Silence of the Lambs and Seven. Big words indeed. You can read all about the project inside. Do you believe the hype?
One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood right now?

It’s a dark thriller from a writer who just signed with a major talent agency two weeks ago — but has the attachment of Mark Wahlberg and the interest of nearly every major studio in town.

The previously unknown Aaron Guzikowski, a Brooklyn native who flew out to Los Angeles just a few weeks ago and signed with Endeavor, is behind “Prisoners,” a project said to have echoes of “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven.”

The story concerns a Boston family-man whose 6-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped and then takes matters into his own hands by in turn kidnapping the man he suspects responsible.

Guzikowski was noticed two years ago by management company Madhouse Entertainment, which then worked to develop this script through dozens of iterations (the company also will produce).

But all that toil seems to paying a quick dividend.

The Endeavor-repped Wahlberg, a Boston native who also plays a distressed father in Peter Jackson’s upcoming “Lovely Bones,” attached himself to the script shortly after the Endeavor signing.

Endeavor declined comment on the project.

Studios, meanwhile, have been clamoring for rights the past few days, but Endeavor is keen on attaching a director before making a sale. A director is expected to be attached next week.

And a rags-to-riches tale may continue to be written for a long time after that.