HOLLYWOOD NEWS

Feb 12, 2009–Tom Cruise will co-star with Denzel Washington in “The Matarese Circle,” David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller for MGM. Cruise and Washington are cast as two bitter enemy spies who, after spending  decades trying to kill each other, team up against the Matarese, a powerful group at the root of a conspiracy.

The script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (“Wanted”) updates Ludlum’s original Cold War premise.  Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler will produce with Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith’s newly formed Captivate Entertainment. Henry Morrison is exec producer.

“The Matarese Circle” will be an MGM picture. The combo of Cruise, Washington and Cronenberg makes “Matarese Circle” a high-profile film under new regime of MGM head Mary Parent.

In the $3 million deal made for the Ludlum title, MGM also acquired “The Matarese Countdown,” giving the studio a potential a franchise, as Universal did with Ludlum’s “The Bourne Identity.”