Tom Cruise is in talks to star with Denzel Washington in The Matarese Circle, the David Cronenberg-directed adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller that MGM will put into production this year, reports Variety.
Cruise will go mano a mano with Washington as two bitter enemy spies who, after spending two decades trying to kill one another, find themselves in the crosshairs of the Matarese, a powerful group at the root of a conspiracy.
The trade says that the script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (Wanted) contemporizes Ludlum’s original Cold War premise.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Nick Wechsler will produce with Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith’s newly formed Captivate Entertainment. Henry Morrison is executive producer.
The film is expected to be released in 2010.
Cruise is expected next to star with Charlize Theron in The Tourist for Spyglass.
