After making a strong debut with Snowtown, director Justin Kurzel soon switched his focus to his next project, an adaptation of the John le Carré novel Our Kind of Traitor. While it was once rumored to be starring Ralph Fiennes, that apparently didn’t pan out as The Daily Mail has learnt that Fiennes will not be leading the film and instead, Ewan McGregor will step in for him.
McGregor is set to play Perry, “a man whose vacation with Gail, his wife, is interrupted by the introduction of a Russian oligarch named Dima. In trying to join British Intelligence by way of spilling secrets about former cohorts, he leaves the simple pair in something of a tight spot, soon having to contend with outside forces much greater than themselves.”
Mads Mikkelsen and Jessica Chastain were also rumored for roles at one point but there is no confirmation on either of them just yet. I’m happy enough with McGregor though. He did some excellent work in last year’s The Impossible and I think he’s a great choice for a film like this. First though, the actor needs to finish up Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun, only then will Kurzel begin work on Our Kind of Traitor.
In case reading the name John le Carré didn’t ring a bell for you the first time around, I’m here to tell you that this is the same man who wrote Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, an excellent espionage novel that turned into an even better film. With that in mind, I’m even more excited to see what Kurzel and McGregor can do with the strong source material.
How about you? Do you think Ewan McGregor is a good choice to lead a film like Our Kind of Traitor? Let us know in the comments below.