It’s been almost three years since Writing for Film & Television grad Seth Lochhead wrote this guest post on the VFS Blog.

At the time, his screenplay “Hanna” was attracting a lot of attention from Hollywood gatekeepers like the management company Circle of Confusion and the William Morris Agency. The script then landed in the enviable top 10 of the Black List — “an industry popularity contest of the most liked screenplays,” Seth explained back in 2007.

Hanna has now taken a giant step toward meeting its reported release date target of April 8, 2011. IMDB lists numerous shooting locations throughout Europe, and big-name stars such as Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana have added their talents to the La Femme Nikita-inspired tale of a 14-year-old assassin (played by Saoirse Ronan) who is sent out on a killing mission by her ex-CIA operative father.

Even with a big name director like Joe Wright (Atonement), there are many industry hoops Hanna must still jump through to make its way to theatres, but considering these positive developments — and all of our crossed fingers — we’ll all hopefully be lining up to see it next spring!

Congrats, Seth!