James Gray has been hired to rewrite and direct the drama, Alphabet City for Strike Entertainment and Universal Pictures.

The film is based on the novel by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things); Knight is also the creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Variety notes the film centers on a journalist who goes undercover in one of Gotham's worst neighborhoods to write a book about drug culture and gangs.

Shooting for Alphabet City begins in the spring in New York.