You wouldn’t think that the director of Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare In Love and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin would necessarily be interested in directing a thriller about an aged Mossad agent hunting a war criminal – but John Madden is in talks to call the shots on The Debt.
The film, which will be produced by Matthew Vaughn (who still seems to be in a holding pattern on Marvel’s Thor), is a remake of a 2007 Israeli thriller called HaHov, which follows three Mossad agents across three decades as they search for a Nazi war criminal. When they fail in their mission, they cover it up, only for their quarry to resurface in the 1990s, prompting one of their number, now in her Sixties, to mount a desperate race against time to apprehend him and keep the cover-up covered up. (This will require the casting of two different actresses, one to play the heroine in her thirties; the other of a more distinguished vintage…)
Madden – director of genteel and beautifully shot romances – may seem like a strange choice to helm, but his last film, Killshot, was also a thriller, based on an Elmore Leonard novel. It’s been awaiting a release for what seems like ages now, which might not be the greatest of signs, but we’re sure that Vaughn has seen it, and liked what he saw.
Certainly, Madden has enough experience of working for Miramax, which is funding the film, but this will be his first Miramax film under the auspices of new boss, Daniel Battsek, with Harvey Weinstein long gone.
The script for The Debt has been written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, with whom he wrote Stardust. Kris Thykier will share producing duties. As ever, more on this very intriguing project when we get it.