Oscar-minted actress/Furiosa emeritus Charlize Theron has quite a bit on her plate these days. In addition to manipulating Vin Diesel for our amusement this April, projects like this summer’s The Coldest City, the Jason Reitman dramedy Tully and Nash Edgerton’s American Express are eating up the star’s time. The latest bit of work to be added to Theron’s life? A spy thriller she’ll be producing and starting in for Universal.
Deadline reports that Theron and the studio are making an adaptation of Karen Cleveland’s still-to-be released novel Need to Know. Theron plays a married mom working as a CIA analyst in the film. As she attempts to uncover information about a Russian sleeper cell an unexpected danger is unleashed upon her and her family. According to Deadline, the cinema version has been considered a rather hot commodity in Hollywood.
Cleveland knows the spy game; she has worked the past few years as an analyst for the CIA. The book made a big splash late last week, with several studios making offers. It hasn’t officially been set for publishing, but I’ve heard that Ballantine is the likely publishing house.
This summer’s The Coldest City also has Theron in a spy-set situation, but we imagine the tone might be a bit different. John Wick co-director David Leitch is helming that project, while the finer details of Need To Know are still being sorted out.
(Via Deadline)
