The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Nima Nourizadeh, director of Project X and 2015’s divisive stoner comedy American Ultra, has been brought aboard to helm Tracking of a Russian Spy.
The true-life thriller, one that’s set up shop at StudioCanal and The Picture Company, is to be based on Mitch Swenson’s novella of love and espionage and, frankly, the devastating consequences when the two intertwine. Drake Doremus was once attached at the helm, and while he’s now gone, we understand the original, adapted screenplay from Charles Cumming and Chris Salmanpour remains in place.
There’s currently no mention of a release window just yet, but the official pitch teases “a secret romance between Swenson and Katya, a mysterious Russian woman he met in a New York nightclub. She disappeared suddenly after the arrest of 10 Russian Americans who were charged with spying for the Kremlin. Swenson went to Moscow to uncover who his love really was, leading him down a rabbit hole of intrigue and shadow government operations deep within Russia.”
StudioCanal and The Picture Company will now begin casting the net in search of actors to headline Tracking of a Russian Spy as Swenson and Katya, and from the premise alone, there’s an air of Robert Zemeckis’ Allied lingering over Nima Nourizadeh’s adaptation – the subterfuge, the forbidden romance, you name it. Production is earmarked to begin in spring 2017, and we fully expect casting news to emerge sooner rather than later.
Tracking of a Russian Spy is officially beginning to judder into motion, but what are your early impressions of Nourizadeh’s latest directorial effort? Sound off below and let us know!
