Clive Owen has boarded the action private eye series as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe for Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment; Owen will also serve as executive producer.

Strike bought the rights to the mystery series including The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely. According to Variety, the production company wants to have Owen narrate the dramas in Chandler's testosterone-laced writing; the plan is to keep the noir spirit of the Chandler books, and keep the mysteries set in the 1940s in Los Angeles, with Marlowe continuing to be the hard-drinking, wisecracking gumshoe.

As far as a time schedule for both The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely, producers are are looking for writers and directors; no word on which film will be made first.