AceShowbiz -

Going deeper into U.S. film productions, German filmmaker Christian Alvart has signed on the helm a thriller feature titled "The Zero" for Warner Independent Pictures, Variety has learned.

Adapted from Jess Walter's satirical political novel of the same name, the project revolves around a New York City cop who shoots himself in the head less than a week after the 9/11 incident, causing him to suffer strange memory lapses. Later assigned to analyze every scrap of paper blown across New York when the Twin Towers fell, he unexpectedly finds himself involved in a sinister government plot.

Alvart, once deemed New Face of German Cinema at the 2005 AFI Fest in Los Angeles, previously directed horror flick "Case 39" for Paramount Pictures. Toplined by Renee Zellweger, it concerns an idealistic social worker who saves an abused 10-year-old girl from her parents only to discover that things are not as they appear.