The November Man (or possibly just "
November Man" with no "
The," depending on what source you trust),
Pierce Brosnan's return to the world of spying (and potential second spy franchise in a perfect world!) is one of the projects on the horizon that I'm most excited about. But because it's being financed independently, I live in fear that it will fall through, and the longer we go without hearing any substantial news on the project, the more I start to fear. Luckily, my fears are pretty much allayed today! Because the project has an actual start date... and it's next week! According to
Deadline, "shooting starts May 20 on the story of an ex-CIA operative who’s pitted against his former pupil in a race to find a woman who holds the key to an international conspiracy." Furthermore, the trade blog confirms what
Contact Music first reported a few weeks ago: that former Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko is teaming up with the former Bond star. That's pretty cool!
The November Man has long been a
passion project for Brosnan (he's been trying to make it since at least 2005), so the solid start date must have made a great birthday present for the actor, who turned 60 this week.
The November Man, better known as Devereaux, is the hero of
13 books by Bill Granger. Strangely enough, this movie is
not based on Granger’s
1979 novel of that title (the first in the Deveraux series), but on his 1986 entry (the seventh in the series),
There Are No Spies. Roger Donaldson (no stranger to spies, having previously helmed
The Bank Job and
The Recruit) directs, and screenwriters Michael Finch (
Predators) and Karl Gajdusek (
Last Resort) penned the adaptation. Donaldson and Brosnan previously collaborated on
Dante's Peak. I've never read any of Granger's books (which are sadly out of print), and I definitely need to rectify that before this movie comes out!
Brosnan, for his part, seems quite keen to return to the genre for which he's most famous. "I shall jump back into that arena," he excitedly told WENN (via
Contact Music) while doing publicity for his latest movie,
Love is All You Need. "I think there's ... room on the stage for another spy! Daniel [Craig] can't have it all to himself. My co-star is a lovely actress called Olga Kurylenko, who seems to be going through leading men like hot dinners. She started with Daniel Craig and she's gonna end up with Brosnan! She's a gorgeous actress, beautiful woman. She's in and it's the older spy, younger spy."
Dominic Cooper, who's
playing Ian Fleming in the upcoming miniseries
Fleming, was previously attached to this film as well, but it's unclear if he's still involved at this point. [
UPDATE: It looks like he's out.
Variety reports that the role he was set to play has been filled by Luke Bracey, an Australian actor who played Cobra Commander in
G.I. Joe: Retaliation.) Brosnan will next be seen spying in
The Coup, opposite Owen Wilson.
This is great news! I’ve been hoping this movie would get made since I first heard about it in 2005
ReplyDeleteI read most of the November Man novels back in the ‘80s when I first started getting into spy fiction. They sort of inhabit the middle ground between Fleming and Le Carre, leaning a bit more towards Le Carre. Devereux is definitely a tough guy, but also smart, moody, and somewhat depressive.
I look forward to Brosnan’s take on the character.