A couple of years back, it was announced that Neil Burger would direct an adaptation of Olen Steinhauer‘s thriller "All The Old Knives," and as often happens, not much was heard about it. Now the project has come back to life, with two big stars in the mix.
READ MORE: Neil Burger Will Direct Adaptation Of ‘All The Old Knives’
Baz Bamigboye reports that Kate Winslet (who worked with Burger on "Divergent") and Idris Elba are in serious negotiations for the picture. The thriller follows two CIA operatives, and former lovers, who are forced to look at a past mission where a fellow agent might’ve been compromised. Here’s the book synopsis:
Six years ago in Vienna, terrorists took over a hundred hostages, and the rescue attempt went terribly wrong. The CIA’s Vienna station gathered intel during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground and from an agent on the inside. So when it all went wrong, the question had to be asked: Had their agent been compromised, and how?
Two of the CIA’s case officers in Vienna, Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison, were lovers at the time, and on the night of the hostage crisis Celia decided she’d had enough. She left the agency, married and had children, and now lives in idyllic Carmel-by-the-Sea. Henry is still a case officer in Vienna, and has traveled to California to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all.
But neither of them can forget that long-ago question: Had their agent been compromised? If so, how? Each also wonders what role tonight’s dinner companion might have played in the way the tragedy unfolded six years ago. The deal for the movie isn’t done, and neither actor will sign on unless the other does. Thus, there’s no word on when production might begin, as it likely depends on getting the leads locked down first. But Winslet and Elba leading a spy thriller sounds fine by me, so let’s hope some ink gets on those contracts soon.
