The Outfit: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch & more board Graham Moore crime-drama

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Oscar-winning writer Graham Moore is about to make his directorial debut with The Outfit. Focus Features has pre-purchased the world rights to the project from FilmNation Entertainment with plans to roll cameras in March in London. Announced as primary members of the crime-drama are Oscar-winner Mark Rylance (Dunkirk), Dylan O'Brien (The Maze Runner franchise), Zoey Deutch (Zombieland: Double Tap), and Johnny Flynn (Emma).

According to Deadline, The Outfit follows Leonard (Rylance), an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. But after a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.

Moore, who wrote 2014's The Imitation Game, will shoot from his own screenplay co-written by actor-writer Johnathan McClain. Scoop Wasserstein, Ben Browning, and Amy Jackson are producing, with FilmNation taking care of the financing.

“A truly great film starts with fantastic writing, and we’re thrilled to have Graham’s talent drive this film to its full potential as a highly entertaining crime drama,” said FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner. “We couldn’t think of a better home for this film than with the talented and like-minded team at Focus and can’t wait to gear up for yet another production during a time when our industry needs great films more than ever.”

“Like so many, we were blown away by Graham’s award-winning work in The Imitation Game and are thrilled to take part in his directorial debut. His storytelling talents seem limitless, and the caliber of artists he’s sewn together both behind and in front of the camera for The Outfit will undoubtedly bring this thriller to life in an exciting way. We are looking forward to joining our friends at FilmNation in this endeavor,” said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski.

Lastly, Moore added, “If you’d told me years ago when Johnathan and I were first dreaming up this story, that I’d get to direct my first film with a cast as exquisitely talented as Mark, Zoey, Dylan, and Johnny, I’d have said you were nuts. And honestly, if you’d said that back then, you might have been. This film is such a deep labor of love for me and our whole team, and I could not ask for better partners than our friends at FilmNation and Focus.”

In addition to his screen credits, Moore is also the author of such novels as The Holdout, The Last Days of Night, and The Sherlockian. From where I'm standing, it looks as if this cat knows how to write a rousing mystery, now let's see what he can do from behind the camera.