Oscar winner set for tale of intrigue and mystery.
‘The American’ and ‘Control’ director Anton Corbijn is looking to cast Philip Seymour Hoffman in his modern day thriller ‘A Most Wanted Man.’ The news comes via Variety, with reports that the actor is in final negotiations for the film.
Adapted from the best-selling spy novel by ‘Tinker Tailor Solider Spy’ author John le Carré, the story takes place in present day Hamburg, where a near-dead half-Chechen, half Russian man on the run arrives in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune. The man gets caught up in the war on terror when his fate becomes entwined with a young female lawyer and private British banker.
Hoffman would be taking the role of Gunther Bachmann, head of a covert German spy organization that is keeping watch over the main players, while trying to uncover the true identity of the mysterious man.
The thriller was adapted by Andrew Bovell (‘Lantana,’ ‘Edge of Darkness’) and will co-produced by Amusement Park Film, Ink Factory, Potboiler Productions and Film4.
Gail Egan of Potboiler Productions said:
“We are completely thrilled at the prospect of Philip Seymour Hoffman playing Bachmann in Andrew Bovell’s brilliant adaptation of this very modern thriller by John le Carré. We will start shooting in Hamburg in September and are delighted to be working with Anton Corbijn on this film. His unique vision for le Carré’s complex and stylish story is very contemporary, very real, very human.”