David Fincher and Rooney Mara eyeing Red Sparrow from American Hustle scribe

June 9th 2014, 9:56pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Back in January we told you that Darren Aronofsky had moved on from possibly directing the spy thriller RED SPARROW, an adaption of the Jason Matthews espionage book. Now Fox is in talks with AMERICAN HUSTLE writer Eric Singer to adapt the book and they also have David Fincher and Rooney Mara looking to re-team for the project.

Here's the synopsis for RED SPARROW:

In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole. As the action careens between Russia, Finland, Greece, Italy, and the United States, Dominika and Nate soon collide in a duel of wills, tradecraft, and—inevitably—forbidden passion that threatens not just their lives but those of others as well. As secret allegiances are made and broken, Dominika and Nate’s game reaches a deadly crossroads.

Soon one of them begins a dangerous double existence in a life-and-death operation that consumes intelligence agencies from Moscow to Washington, DC. Page by page, veteran CIA officer Jason Matthews’s Red Sparrow delights, terrifies and fascinates, all while delivering an unforgettable cast, from a sadistic Spetsnaz “mechanic” who carries out Putin’s murderous schemes to the weary CIA Station Chief who resists Washington “cake-eaters”. Packed with insider detail, this novel brims with Matthews’s life experience of espionage, counterintelligence, spy recruitment, and cyber-warfare. Brilliantly composed, Red Sparrow is a masterful spy tale. Authentic, tense, and entertaining, this novel introduces Jason Matthews as a major new American talent. [Amazon]

Fincher and Mara last worked together on THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO where Fincher directed Mara to an Oscar nominated performance. It's still in the very early stages but with headline names like this, you can expect people to get to work on this. I haven’t read the book but it sounds awesome; reviews were very strong and the material definitely lends itself to the big screen considering Edward Snowden is a household name.

The big question from all of this though, does this mean we really won't see a The Girl Who Played with Fire movie? That would suck the big one.

You can catch Fincher's next, GONE GIRL on October 3, 2014.