Director hoping to follow biblical epic Noah with Russian set spy thriller based on book by Jason Matthews
Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is looking to take on spy thriller Red Sparrow as his next project, according to Deadline. Having completed shooting on his biblical epic Noah, Aronofsky is reportedly being sought for the adaptation of the novel by Jason Matthews.
Red Sparrow is set in post Soviet Russia, and centres around a female intelligence operative called Dominika Egorova, who is trained as a "sparrow", or honey trap specialist. She finds herself drawn towards the CIA agent she is assigned to, and they end up working together to uncover a double agent. The fact that Egorova is a former ballerina may or may not have attracted Aronofky's attention, given the success he enjoyed with Black Swan.
Aronofky is currently in early talks on the project, and the suggestion is that The General, his planned biopic of George Washington, has been put on hold.
Meanwhile, another female-fronted thriller may be getting off the ground: the long-mooted adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels. Cornwell's series of books about the fictional medical examiner now numbers 20, and Angelina Jolie has been attached to play the character since 2009.
Now, however, Cornwell has moved from publishers Penguin to HarperCollins, and as the latter is a sister company of film studio 20th Century Fox who hold the rights to Scarpetta, an production appears more likely to get off the ground. According to the Hollywood Reporter, HarperCollins paid more than $10m as an advance to acquire Cornwell's next two books (including the next Scarpetta, entitled Dust), knowing that Fox wanted to move ahead with a film as soon as possible. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 days ago.
Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is looking to take on spy thriller Red Sparrow as his next project, according to Deadline. Having completed shooting on his biblical epic Noah, Aronofsky is reportedly being sought for the adaptation of the novel by Jason Matthews.
Red Sparrow is set in post Soviet Russia, and centres around a female intelligence operative called Dominika Egorova, who is trained as a "sparrow", or honey trap specialist. She finds herself drawn towards the CIA agent she is assigned to, and they end up working together to uncover a double agent. The fact that Egorova is a former ballerina may or may not have attracted Aronofky's attention, given the success he enjoyed with Black Swan.
Aronofky is currently in early talks on the project, and the suggestion is that The General, his planned biopic of George Washington, has been put on hold.
Meanwhile, another female-fronted thriller may be getting off the ground: the long-mooted adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels. Cornwell's series of books about the fictional medical examiner now numbers 20, and Angelina Jolie has been attached to play the character since 2009.
Now, however, Cornwell has moved from publishers Penguin to HarperCollins, and as the latter is a sister company of film studio 20th Century Fox who hold the rights to Scarpetta, an production appears more likely to get off the ground. According to the Hollywood Reporter, HarperCollins paid more than $10m as an advance to acquire Cornwell's next two books (including the next Scarpetta, entitled Dust), knowing that Fox wanted to move ahead with a film as soon as possible. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 days ago.