Swedish filmmaker circles Soviet thriller.
‘Safe House’ helmer Daniel Espinosa is in talks to direct an adaptation of British author Tom Rob Smith’s novel ‘Child 44,’ reports Deadline.
The first in a trilogy, the book is set in in Stalinist Russia, and revolves around Leo Demidov, an officer in the secret police who is framed by a colleague for treason. On the run with his emotionally estranged wife, Raisa, he stumbles upon a series of child killings and launches his own rogue investigation, even though it means risking his own capture.
Smith’s book is based on the Rostov Ripper, the Ukrainian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, who was executed for 52 murders and was enabled by the institutional denial that existed in Soviet political culture at the time.
Ridley Scott’s Scott Free is producing. The ‘Prometheus’ director was initially attached to direct when the adaptation was first announced back in 2007.