50/50 director Jonathan Levine in talks to direct McG’s Dead Spy Running

DEAD SPY RUNNING was a project initially started by writer Stephen Gaghen (SYRIANA, TRAFFIC) and Jamie Moss (HUNTER KILLER, STREET KINGS) for producer and THIS MEANS WAR director McG. Gaghen was supposed to initially direct, but scheduling conflicts made that not happen.

Enter Jonathan Levine of 50/50 and THE WACKNESS fame, who Twitch says is in negotiations to direct the spy thriller at Warner Bros. A strange choice of filmmaker to be paired with McG, though I suppose Academy Award winner Gaghen’s involvement is stranger still.

As for what the project is about, McG told Collider the following in a recent interview:

“[DEAD SPY RUNNING] is a spy story for this generation.  It’s of the Social Network age.  Imagine those kids in Zuckerberg’s room in The Social Network.  One of them goes on to be a spy and uses his acumen of today’s world: DJ culture, Steve Jobs, the Apple store.  Which I say with respect to Bond, Bourne, and Hunt, they don’t really know that world.  But there’s a whole generation of kids that do.  And what if a spy came from that place?  Gaghan knows a lot about that world, so I’m hoping to get that done.  That’s a huge priority.”