Spy and Espionage

Atonement director eyes assassin thriller Hanna

Atonement director Joe Wright is in discussions with Focus Features to helm the action-adventure thriller Hanna, with Marty Adelstein (Black Christmas, Made of Honor) and Scott Nemes (My Baby’s Daddy) as producers, according to HeatVisionBlog. Hanna has been receiving a great deal of attention since being set up at Focus in 2007, with Danny Boyle ….

Johnny Depp in talks to play opposite Angelina Jolie in spy thriller The Tourist

Johnny Depp is now in negotiations to star with Angelina Jolie in Sony Pictures’ espionage thriller The Tourist, according to Variety, which Graham King’s GK Films is financing and distributing in association with the studio. Tim Headington, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman are also attached to produce. Depp would play the role of ….

Soderbergh says Knockout to contain “ultra-realistic” action

Empire Magazine caught up with Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, and chatted him up regarding the upcoming action-spy-thriller Knockout, which is being developed around its star, female MMA fighter Gina Carano. Knockout certainly isn’t what movie-goers have come to expect from Soderbergh, although he is known for mixing up his palette, having directed films as varied ….

Invincible director set to helm XXX: The Return of Xander Cage

Ericson Core (Invincible) is set to direct XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Columbia Picture’s third installment in the action franchise, with Neal Moritz and Joe Roth attached to produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Vin Diesel will return to the titular role of the rogue extreme sports athlete-turned-government agent, which he originated in the ….

Jason Bourne 4 gets a screenwriter and start date

Josh Zetumer, who wrote the script for the upcoming Dune remake, has signed on to pen the fourth installment of Universal’s “Bourne” movie series, writing what is being called a parallel script, according to THR. George Nolfi, who co-wrote The Bourne Ultimatum, was tentatively on board to co-write the screenplay for the next chapter in ….

Mission Impossible 4 now has writers to go along with producers

Paramount and producers Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams have chosen Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec to write the script for the newly revived Mission Impossible 4 project, according to Variety. Applebaum and Nemec spent four seasons with Abrams as co-exec producers of the spy show Alias, and will pen M:I 4 based on a story ….

Alibi comic headed to big screen via Surrogate producers

Mandeville Films and Top Cow Productions are developing a film adaptation version of Top Cow’s comic Alibi, according to Variety. The 2008 comic centers on a well-known socialite whose public appearances establish a perfect alibi for the espionage activity of his twin brother, who is a government assassin. Alibi was created by Top Cow president ….

Charlize Theron and Sam Worthington to top-line French spy thriller remake

Charlize Theron (Monster) and Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, upcoming Avatar) have signed to star in Spyglass Entertainment’s thriller remake The Tourist, according to THR. Worthington is taking over the role previously meant for Tom Cruise. The pair will play the leads in the remake of the 2005 French spy thriller Anthony Zimmer, which was written ….