BILLION DOLLAR SPY: Armie Hammer, Mads Mikkelsen to Star in Amma Asante’s Espionage Thriller

Armie Hammer, Mads Mikkelsen to Star in Billion Dollar Spy

Armie Hammer and Mads Mikkelsen will be starring in Amma Asante’s upcoming espionage thriller, The Billion Dollar Spy.

David E. Hoffman, the Pulitzer prize winning journalist, researched and wrote the true story, based on previously classified CIA documents and interviews with the original people directly involved in the real world history. Benjamin August adapted the story for the screen.

Set during the late seventies and early eighties, the story follows Brad Reid (Hammer), a fresh arrival at the CIA’s Moscow headquarters, who is approached by Soviet engineer Adolf Tolkachev (Mikkelsen). Ignoring the direction from his superiors that Tolkachev is an obvious fraud seeking to betray the United States, Reid develops a unique bond with Tolkachev. Reid’s trust is rewarded when Tolkachev hands over a huge trove of military secrets, obtained using classic spy tricks and gadgets such as hidden cameras and microdots. This earns Tolkachev the moniker “The Billion Dollar Spy,” and changes the history of the Cold War itself. Today, Tolkachev is widely viewed by scholars as one of the most important spies in U.S. history.

Gabrielle Stewart, the managing director of HanWay Films commented: “August has brilliantly mined Hoffman’s detailed account of the ‘Billion Dollar Spy’ and delivered a screenplay that will thrill all the fans of analog spycraft. At the same time we are going to inhabit the contrasting personal lives of our two spies: the personal challenges and the impact their world changing activities have on their marriages, their families and their own psyches. Asante’s imprint is right here, and along with her very talented actors, she has the opportunity to give us a completely fresh and multi-layered perspective on the Cold War thriller.”

The film was produced and developed by Walden Media and co-produced by Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans of Weed Road Pictures. Walden Media’s president and CEO Frank Smith will executive produce with Naia Cucukov, the executive vice president of development and production. HanWay Films was onboarded to handle international sales and distribution. They will start looking for distributors at the upcoming American Film Market. CAA Media Finance and Endeavor Content will be overseeing the U.S. sale. Filming will begin next year in Eastern Europe.

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