Cruise, Denzel, Cronenberg Play a Spy Game

Wow, this is very exciting news. Imagine a Jason Bourne-type movie with Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. Not bad, right? Now imagine it's written by the guys who adapted Wanted. And now, just for the hell of it, go ahead and throw David Cronenberg in the director's chair. Imagine no more: That is The Matarese Circle, a Robert Ludlum adaptation being developed at MGM, with all of those pieces in place. Variety indicates that this is the marquee production under the studio's new direction, led by Mary Parent. Hard to argue with that. Just to cover its bases, MGM also owns the rights to The Matarese Countdown, so we could get a Denzel franchise out of this. In the story, the spies played by Denzel and Cruise were bitter rivals for 20 years, but form a shaky alliance to fight a common enemy. The additions of Derek Haas and Michael Brandt as screenwriters is, in my opinion, crucial. As much as I respect Cronenberg, full-tilt action in the Jason Bourne mold isn't really his thing. Come to think of it, I'd be just fine with action like we saw in A History of Violence or Eastern Promises, just so long as there are no full-frontal knife fights. But with Brandt and Haas, there's the possibility of some real kinetic energy from the opening page of the script. We won't have to wait long for Matarese, since Parent seems set on getting it in theaters next year.

Comments

[Anybody]

Matarese sweet. Cronenberg awesome. BUT I'm assuming this means Cruise will be playing the Russian spy, didn't anyone learn anything from Valkyrie... keep Cruise as an american because thats what he'll sound like anyway (or he'll try a horrible attempt at a russian accent, even worse).