Cellda 211 (Cell 211) is a Spanish film that was released in 2009 and is about to get the Hollywood treatment, the good news is that Paul Haggis may be directing and that means we could end up with a strong thriller.

The film tells the story of a new prison guard who arrives on his first day. Knocked out by a rock thrown by rioting prisoners he misses the riot that takes control of the prison and when he awakes he's the lone guard in the middle of a politically charged prisoner controlled jail.

One of the twists in the story is that he's mistaken for an inmate and pretends to work with them, all the time returning to the cell he was found in to use his radio to contact the outside and let them know of the plans.

Another one, just to add complications, is that amongst the prisoners are three Basque terrorists who cannot be harmed under a deal between the Spanish government. So he must try and keep them alive, and when the prisoners find out who they are they have their bargaining chip.

Cellda 211 looks a taught and powerful thriller that looks like it could really deliver a powerful punch, and it does feel as though it could translate well to Hollywood, in fact as Deadline Hollywood Daily point out, this could be another Die Hard film.

However, let's look back at the original Spanish film Cellda 211 (Cell 211) directed by Daniel Monzon who co-wrote the novel with Jorge Guerricaechevarría which won plenty of Goya Awards in Spain including Best Film, Director and Screenplay, and that's another sign that it's a great film, oh and here's a trailer with English subtitles for you:

It does look good, great premise for a lot of tension building to some great action, will it translate well? I think it could with Paul Haggis directing. The question is who will write? For me the question is when I see it, definitely before the remake happens.