Bradley Cooper will star in Relativity Media's "Dark Fields" thriller which Neil Burger is helming. Shia LaBeouf was originally set to star.

The story tells of a down-and-out writer (played by Cooper) who gets his hands on a top-secret pharmaceutical drug which has the ability to make one smarter.

Before long he's a big success financially and socially, however, its then revealed that the drug has lethal and lasting side effects. This includes "trip-switching," a phenomenon in which time moves with a stop-motion quality. Before long, mysterious antagonists are in pursuit.

Sources say that the thriller is said to be in the vein of "Fight Club" and "The Game."

Leslie Dixon ("The Thomas Crown Affair") writes the script based on the book by Alan Glynn.

Universal is set to distribute via Relativity's Rogue Pictures. Producing are Leslie Dixon, Scott Kroopf along with Relativity Media's Ryan Kavanaugh.