Christopher McQuarrie is well regarded as the writer of films such as The Usual Suspects and Valkyrie, and later this year will be filling out his directorial CV with Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise. Now Deadline reports he’s working on a deal to rewrite the Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse for Paramount Pictures. The filmmaker may direct as well, although that has not been set in stone yet.

The project has been in development at the studio for years, with John Singleton attached to direct way back in October 2006. More recently in 2010, The Shield creator Shawn Ryan took a crack at the script. The novel, first published in 1993, is a spin-off of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series, following John Kelly (aka John Clark). The story takes place six months after his pregnant wife died in a car accident. He picks up Pam, a prostitute seeking refuge from her dangerous employers, who used her as a drug mule. They join forces to take down the drug lords.

There’s speculation that Paramount is pushing forward with this now so they can crossover Without Remorse with their upcoming Untitled Jack Ryan Project, which has Chris Pine attached to star, perhaps introducing Clark in that movie before he goes off on his own adventure.