While in every day life the shadowy manoeuvrings of various governmental intelligence agencies may be troubling to many, they are also an undeniably abundant source of material for dramatic entertainment – and director Michael Cuesta has become a regular fixture in that genre. Having worked on Homeland as executive producer and occasional director, he has recently completed megaphone duties on Kill The Messenger – a biographical crime drama about the smearing of a journalist who exposes the part the CIA played in the Iran-Contra scandal over thirty years ago. Now, that theme will continue with Code Name Veil – which Black Label Media just tapped Cuesta to direct.
The Matt Billingsly-penned script featured on The Black List, and is loosely based on real events. It follows an inexperienced CIA agent tasked with investigating the first terrorist attacks on America, after the Embassy and Marine barracks bombings in Beirut in 1983. The agent finds himself having to resort to desperate measures when his station chief and mentor is taken hostage – but his efforts see him unknowingly drawn into the Iran-Contra situation.
In much the same way that films about alien invasions, zombies and vampires come in flurries, so there currently seems to be a visible push for cinematic stories that feature Iran. With Argo having been such a success, and Syriana having been well-received in the years before it, Hollywood has, as usual, seized upon those flashes of interest and clamoured for more. Aside from Cuesta’s Kill The Messenger, we also have the directorial debut of Jon Stewart – Rosewater – to look forward to, in addition to Code Name Veil.
The question now becomes, who will play the agent? We have heard no casting news about Code Name Veil as yet, so it would seem the field is wide open. It has the potential to be a highly sought after part in a thrilling and well-crafted movie, so please head down to the comments section to let us know your preferences for filling that role. In the meantime, we will keep our ear to the ground.
