Amateur: Rami Malek to star in CIA thriller from Slow Horses director James Hawes

Last Updated on February 23, 2023

Deadline has reported that Rami Malek is set to star in Amateur, a CIA thriller which James Hawes will helm.

Gary Spinelli wrote the most recent draft of Amateur, which follows “a CIA cryptographer who, after his wife is tragically killed in a London terrorist attack, demands his bosses go after them. When it becomes clear they won’t act due to conflicting internal priorities, he blackmails the agency into training him and letting him go after them himself.” James Hawes is best known for helming the first season of Slow Horses on Apple, so he certainly knows his way about spy-craft stories. Hawes has also directed episodes of Raised by Wolves, Snowpiercer, Black Mirror, Penny Dreadful, and more. No start date has been set for Amateur, but it could wind up being Rami Malek’s next project.

Before he sets his sights on Amateur, Rami Malek will next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The star-studded biopic features Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, as well as Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and more. The film is easily one of the most anticipated projects of the year, and in true Christopher Nolan fashion, he used real explosives to recreate the Trinity nuclear test instead of turning to CGI. Oppenheimer will hit theaters on July 21st.

The actor also recently signed on to play silent comedy icon Buster Keaton in a limited series for Warner Bros. Television. Matt Reeves is set to produce the Buster Keaton series through his 6th & Idaho Productions banner, and Deadline understands that he will also helm the project. Succession’s Ted Cohen is in negotiations to write the series and serve as executive producer. The producers are also negotiating to secure the rights to Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis, with the intention of using it as the source material. Buster Keaton was one of the biggest actors and directors of the silent movie era, and his physical comedy and stunt work remains incredibly impressive even a hundred years later. After a series of two-reel comedies, Buster Keaton moved to feature-length films such as Sherlock Jr., The Cameraman, and The General, with the latter being regarded as his masterpiece