Bale takes 'Prisoners'

Hot Endeavor project "Prisoners" just got hotter.

Insiders say that Christian Bale has attached himself to the project, joining Mark Wahlberg on the thriller and making the package for Aaron Guzikowski's spec even more desirable. That follows word from Bryan Singer that he'd like to direct the pic, though there's no official confirmation from his reps yet that he's come on board.

Endeavor is putting together the package and plans on shopping it after a director is officially attached, with insiders stressing the project isn't financed and saying the Wahlberg-Bale combo is fragile. This one's all about making the numbers work for the players, who typically command hefty paydays.

We took a look at the script to see what was getting studio execs so piqued and found plenty to be excited about.

Here's the basic idea: After his 6-year-old daughter and her friend are kidnapped, a small-town carpenter butts heads with a young, brash detective in charge of the investigation. The father is a Bible-reading, deer-hunting survivalist. The cop, meanwhile, can’t wait to get to the city. Feeling failed by the law, the father captures the man he believes responsible and begins to torture him in a desperate attempt to find out what he did with the girls, whom he’s convinced are still alive.

That's the basic setup. There's a lot more there, but we won't spoil it except to say the two leads have great arcs and the supporting players, especially the mothers, have juicy parts. The script is dark -- Disney ain’t touchin' this one -- and a real page-turner.

Wahlberg's had a couple bumpy rides in “Max Payne” and “The Happening," which would make this a good next pic if it went quickly. Bale, who's next up in "Terminator: Salvation" and gangster pic "Public Enemies" is actually perfect for this -- it's a brooding, dark script, and Bale plays brooding and dark to great effect.

And Singer? Well, he started with small thrillers like “Usual Suspects” and “Apt Pupil” but has since moved on to bigger pictures. "Prisoners" could be just the thing to set him loose.