Following the recent addition of Josh Hartnett, Deadline brings word that Golden Globe winner Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral) has entered negotiations to join Jason Statham in director Guy Ritchie’s forthcoming international spy thriller film titled Five Eyes. Should the deal pushes through, this project would mark Grant’s latest collaboration with Ritchie after working together in last year’s The Gentlemen.
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In Five Eyes, MI6 guns-and-steel agent Orson Fortune (Statham) is recruited by a global intelligence alliance ‘Five Eyes’ to track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Reluctantly paired with CIA high-tech expert Sarah Fidel, Fortune sets off on a globe-trotting mission where he will have to use all of his charm, ingenuity, and stealth to track down and infiltrate billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds.
Joining Jason Statham are Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night), Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West), Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), and British rapper Bugzy Malone. Production is currently underway and is set to shoot in Turkey and Qatar.
The film will be directed by Ritchie from a script written by Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies (The Gentlemen, Wrath of Man), with revisions by Ritchie. This project marks the latest collaboration between Ritchie and Statham, who have previously worked together on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Revolver as well as the upcoming action thriller Wrath of Man.
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Five Eyes will be produced by Bill Block for Miramax, which is also fully financing the film. Ivan Atkinson also serves as producer. STXfilms has secured worldwide distribution rights to the film. STX will distribute directly in the US, UK, and Ireland, and STXinternational will launch sales to foreign buyers at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. STXfilms had great success earlier this year with Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, which grossed $115 million at the worldwide box office.
