Orlando Bloom, Vincent Cassel (Eastern Promises) and Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) have signed on to star in The Cross, which will be directed by Andrew Niccol (Lord of War).

According to Variety, Niccol has initiated pre-production on the $24 million sci-fi escape story.

Set in a border town, The Cross returns Niccol -- Oscar-nommed for writing The Truman Show -- to his favorite domain: the near future. Bloom plays a man seeking to cross a mysterious border, something no one else has achieved; Cassel limns the guard who will go to any lengths to foil him. Kurylenko takes the femme lede. Structured as an Australia-France-Germany co-production, The Cross is being produced by Bluewater Pics in Sydney, Paris' Spangherabero Films and Berlin's Opal Film Produktion. Wieland Schulz-Keil, Jonathan Shteinman, Jean-Vincent Puzos, Remi Burah and Niccol will produce; Alexander von Hohenthal is serving as German co-producer.

Production begins in July in Australia.