Deadline is reporting that director Darren Aronofsky has found his next project now that he’s just about done with Noah, which is arriving next Spring. Though he’s been rumored to be circling a couple different films, today we’re hearing that he’s entered early talks to helm an adaptation of the Jason Matthews’ novel Red Sparrow.
There’s no writer attached just yet and the project is in its earliest stages but 20th Century Fox has already picked up the rights and Steve Zaillian and Garret Basch are set to produce. To be clear, Aronofsky isn’t 100% confirmed just yet, he’s only in talks. In fact, he hasn’t actually received an official offer from the studio yet, but he is their first choice.
If you’re unfamiliar with the novel that the film is based on, it’s a global espionage tale that’s set in the present day. Check out the Amazon synopsis below:
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.
Personally, this doesn’t exactly sound like a film that would be well suited to the director, nor a film that he would be interested in. Don’t get me wrong, judging from the plot synopsis it’s easy to see how Red Sparrow would translate well to the big screen, I just don’t think Aronofsky is the best man to helm a relatively grounded, straight-forward spy thriller. Then again, he’s never disappointed us before so I have no reason to doubt him now.
Tell us, does Red Sparrow sound like an interesting project for Darren Aronofsky, or would you rather see him direct something else for his next film? Let us know in the comments below.