No, there's not another Steve Martin out there who specializes in espionage thrillers. I'm talking about the funny Steve Martin -- the guy who's starred in films like Father of the Bride, My Blue Heaven and The Jerk. Yes, that Steve Martin. Apparently, while on set filming Bringing Down the House, Martin came up with an idea for an espionage thriller and pitched it to producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. At first however, both men thought Martin was joking (and who wouldn't), but once they learned he was serious -- and heard the idea -- they immediately hopped onboard. After winding up at Disney (where it was eventually placed into turnaround), the flick has now found a home with Overture Films, as well as two highly-talented male leads. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce have signed on to star in Traitor, with Jeffrey Nachmanoff directing off his own script (which is based on Martin's original idea). Go figure, huh?

In the film, Cheadle will play a CIA operative working undercover with a terrorist group who somehow becomes a terrorist suspect as well. Pearce, on the other hand, will star as an FBI agent investigating terrorist activities. At some point, I imagine one man will be searching for the other, unaware that they're both on the same team. That is unless Cheadle's undercover work takes him in a little too deep (hence the title) ... if you know what I mean. On the tone of the film, Hoberman says: "The movie deals with the subject of terrorism evenhandedly. It's not black and white but gray and religious-based." Nachmanoff, who's known for writing big-budgeted epics such as The Day After Tomorrow and the upcoming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, will begin shooting Traitor this September in Toronto and Morocco. Pic marks the sixth one Overture Films has picked up for distribution this year; they're also set to release the Robert De Niro/Al Pacino thriller, Righteous Kill.