In what will be Liam Neeson’s 100th appearance on the big screen, Open Road Films has acquired the North American rights to Marlowe, a noir crime thriller that will be released on December 2 through Open Road/Briarcliff Entertainment.

Neesen will be playing the role of detective Philip Marlowe, the hero of numerous Raymond Chandler mysteries of the mid-twentieth century such as The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, and The Long Goodbye. The new film will be based on The Black-Eyed Blonde, a novel by John Banville that has the imprimatur of the Chandler estate. Neil Jordan will be directing, based on a script by William Monahan.

In Marlowe, Neesen will be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange as the leading female characters. Other cast members include Danny Huston, Alan Cumming, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ian Hart, Colm Meaney, Daniela Melchior and Francois Arnaud.

The Marlowe deal was clinched by Tom Ortenberg, the CEO of Open Road/Briarcliff Entertainment, who told reporters he was “very excited to continue working with Liam Neeson on Marlowe and celebrate his 100th movie with him. It’s the type of film we love to be part of: an incredible cast, an Oscar-winning writer and director, and a gripping story that audiences are going to love.

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Director Jordan agreed, adding that he “can’t imagine Marlowe without Liam Neeson. But then, I can’t imagine Michael Collins without him either. Maybe you need an icon to play an icon — that said, I couldn’t feel more honored to be teaming with Liam on his 100th movie, a project we’re all incredibly proud of.”

In a Collider interview, Neeson talked with Steve Weintraub about the research he did into dementia and memory loss to prepare for his recent role as hitman Alex Lewis, an aging assassin in Memory, an action thriller directed by Martin Campbell. Asked which of his earlier films merited special attention, he singled out Michael Collins also directed by Neil Jordan. Collins was an Irish revolutionary of the early 20th century that Neeson described as the father of modern-day terrorism.