In a potentially enticing bit of casting news, Chris Pine and Michelle Williams appear in talks to join the spy thriller All the Old Knives. The Mark Gordon Company and eOne are partnering on the project which looks like it will be directed by James Marsh (The Theory of Everything). The movie would serves as an adaptation of Olen Steinhauer’s novel of the same; Steinhauer (author of the 2009 book The Tourist) penned the screenplay. Variety was the first to report this story.
Set in the cozy town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, All the Old Knives centers on former lovers Henry and Celia – both of whom are/were spies for the CIA – as they reunite. Quickly things turn to an old shop story that still carries current consequences and a furthering mystery as to whether Henry and Celia may continue their one-time romance or battle it out in re-hashing old wounds. At one point, it looked like Oscar winner Kate Winslet and Idris Elba – who will soon be seen in The Mountains Between Us – were in talks to star.
There’s no word yet on when All the Old Knives might head before cameras, but the casting of Pine and Williams comes at a time when both are strong runs. Pine co-starred in last year’s Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water (and earned some of the strongest reviews of his career for it). He will soon co-star in Wonder Woman and in Ava DuVernay’s highly anticipated A Wrinkle in Time. He is also potentially slated to re-join his Hell or High Water co-horts Ben Foster and director David Mackenzie in Netflix’s upcoming Outlaw King.
Williams, herself, also had a stellar 2016 and has a interesting assortment of project ahead of her: she earned an Oscar nomination for her heartbreaking turn in the Oscar-winning Manchester by the Sea last fall as well co-starred in the acclaimed indie Certain Women. She will next be seen in Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck (premiering this month at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival) and co-stars in The Greatest Showman later this year. She recently nabbed the choice role of Gail Harris in Ridley Scott’s all-star All the Money in the World, which is slated to start production in few weeks and is also slated to star in Janis, the long-in-the-tooth biopic of rock superstar Janis Joplin.
Marsh, who won an Oscar for the 2008 documentary Man on Wire and directed Eddie Redmayne to an Oscar in the 2014 bio The Theory of Everything, is currently in post-production on the drama The Mercy starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz – a film which may be ready later this year.
We will stay tuned to the latest on All the Old Knives.
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