WARRIOR Director Gavin O

Helmer tapped for crime thriller.

Deadline has word that Gavin O’Connor (‘Warrior’) has been set the task of directing the contemporary Japan-set thriller ‘Yakuza.’

The thriller follows an “American intelligence expert who becomes embroiled in the affairs of a notorious yakuza godfather and finds himself plunged into the violent criminal underworld and toxic landscape of post-tsunami Japan.”

The script was written by Aaron & Matthew Benay, and rewritten by Chap Taylor. O’Connor is expected to do another rewrite with his ‘Pride and Glory’ producer Josh Fagin.

Brian Grazer is on board to produce via Imagine Entertainment, with Kim Roth and Sarah Bowen serving as executive producers.