AceShowbiz -

Adding one more directorial work to his resume, James Gray has been tapped to helm a new project from Strike Entertainment and Universal entitled "Alphabet City", Variety has revealed. Also assigned to re-write the script, Gray will film the picture with Strike's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman producing.

Based on a Steven Knight's novel, pic follows the story of a journalist as the person goes undercover in one of New York's worst neighborhoods to write a book about drug culture and gangs. While cast still remains a big question, production has already been set to begin by spring in New York.

An alumnus of USC School of Cinema-Television, Gray has just wrapped "We Own the Night" for 2929 Productions with Joaquin Phoenix plus Mark Wahlberg. His other helming works include "Little Odessa" (1994) and "The Yards" (2000) of which scripts he also penned.