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Scott Waugh (“Need for Speed”) is in final negotiations to direct the $120 million sci-fi action movie “Inversion.”

“Inversion,” unveiled at Cannes by Mark Damon’s Foresight Unlimited, follows a young Chinese scientist and a street-smart American expat in a race against the clock across the globe to save Earth from an apocalyptic threat — a reversal of gravity causing civilizations to uproot and plummet into the sky. Bragi Schut and David Arata (“Children of Men”) are scripting.

Producers are Michael Nozik (“Syriana”), Markus Barmettler and Philip Lee (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) with an April start date planned for production. Foresight Unlimited will continue sales at the American Film Market.

Waugh is a former stunt performer who appeared in “Spider-Man” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and co-founded Bandito Brothers. He co-directed 2012’s “Act of Valor” with Mike McCoy and helmed “Need for Speed,” which grossed over $200 million this year.

“Inversion” was introduced to buyers only days before Cannes started. Deals were completed for a number of major territories including Spain, Russia, Benelux, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

Foresight saw solid results earlier this year from war drama “Lone Survivor,” directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, and is in pre-production on “Spinning Gold,” set to star Justin Timberlake and to be directed by Spike Lee. Damon’s credits include “2 Guns,” “Never Say Never Again,” “Das Boot” and “Once Upon a Time in America.”

Waugh is represented by WME.