Jason Statham will play the lead in Five Eyes and Guy Ritchie will direct and produce the movie. (Photo: AP and Twitter/realguyritchie)

Action star Jason Statham and filmmaker Guy Ritchie are collaborating on spy thriller Five Eyes.

Statham and Ritchie started their movie careers together with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and have also worked on Snatch (2000) and upcoming thriller Cash Truck.

The 53-year-old actor will play the lead in Five Eyes and Ritchie will direct and produce, reported Deadline.

The Gentlemen writers Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies have penned the screenplay with revisions by Ritchie.

Miramax will finance the project and produce with STXfilms.

“Jason is a global box office heavy weight, and when teamed with Guy Ritchie, that’s an irresistible combination.

“It’s a thrill to be back in business with Guy, Bill and the team at Miramax after our shared success on The Gentlemen and we believe Five Eyes is the kind of film our partners overseas will love as much as we do,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group.

In the film, Statham will portray an agent recruited by global intelligence alliance Five Eyes to find out and stop the sale of a deadly new weapon that threatens to disrupt the world order.

Production is set to commence in October in Europe.