Giancarlo Giannini and The Lost City of Z‘s Sienna Miller are the latest stars to climb aboard The Catcher Was a Spy, Ben Lewin’s WWII drama poised to take the incredible true story of former MLB player Moe Berg and pitch it for the big screen.
Deadline has the scoop, confirming that Giannini and Miller now join an ensemble comprised of Ant-Man‘s Paul Rudd, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti and Jeff Daniels. Dawidoff’s biography, The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, has been labeled as the primary source of inspiration, creatively speaking, as it tells the story of Berg’s double life as a multilingual pro baseball player, who spent his time away from the field operating as an agent for the Office of Strategic Services – the U.S. intelligence agency that went on to become the CIA we know today – during the height of World War II. During his time on the field, Moe Berg took on assignments across the Caribbean, South America and even mainland Europe, and will no doubt present Paul Rudd with an exciting foray into character-driven drama later this year.
No word yet on when the cameras will start rolling, but we understand Sienna Miller has signed on to play Estella Huni, Berg’s love interest. Indeed, the actress held similar roles in American Sniper, The Lost City of Z and Live By Night, which is a little disheartening given her talent. Giannini, meanwhile, is attached to play Italian physicist Professor Eduardo Amaldi. As for those already on board, Jeff Daniels clinched the juicy part of O.S.S. Chief “Wild Bill” Donovan, who lends military assistant to Rudd’s protagonist under the stewardship of specialist Furman (Pearce) and a renowned physicist, Goudsmit (Giamatti).
The Catcher Was a Spy is expected to enter production in earnest later this year ahead of a release in 2018. The Lost City of Z, on the other hand, will open on April 14th.