EXCLUSIVE: Paramount has pre-emptively acquired John Swetnam’s action-comedy feature spec script, Ballistic.

The logline is being kept secret.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who were behind last spring’s Paramount $208M-plus event movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, will produce through their GoldDay banner with Sara Smith.

Jon Gonda is overseeing the project for Paramount alongside Goldstein and Daley who have a first-look deal at the studio.  

Swetnam wrote and co-produced the New Line Matt Walsh tornado action movie, Into the Storm, which grossed over $161M WW. He also wrote 2014’s Step Up All In, which is part of the Step Up franchise. Swetnam also directed, wrote and produced the 2015 dance movie, Breaking Through. He is represented by CAA, Michael Botti, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman.

Goldstein and Daley are represented by CAA, Fourth Wall Management, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman.

Paramount’s music biopic, Bob Marley: One Love has been one of the few bright spots at the 2024 box office, making over $169M WW.