Richard Gere & Topher Grace See ‘Double’

Richard Gere and Topher Grace have signed up to star in the spy thriller The Double for first time director Michael Brandt.

The American Gigolo star and the potential Predators pâté will start shooting the film in Detroit this June. The Double is being produced by Hyde Park and Imagenation Abu Dhabi.

According to Variety:

“(The) story kicks off with the mysterious murder of a senator bearing the distinguished marks of a Soviet assassin, code-named Cassius, who was long thought to be dead. To hunt down the killer, a retired CIA operative (Gere), who spent his career going toe-to-toe with his Soviet nemeses, is teamed with a young FBI agent (Grace).”

Film fans should recognize Brandt’s name, since he and co-writer Derek Hass have worked on high profile films including Wanted starring Angelina Jolie and the Christian Bale/Russell Crowe western 3:10 to Yuma. Brandt and Haas co-wrote The Double which Brandt has chosen as his megaphone-wielding directorial debut.

The Double sounds like a good old fashioned spy thriller, with a nice Cold War  touch (a genre that seems to be enjoying something of a revival). When Gere is on form he’s pretty dang good – if you don’t believe me, see The Mothman Prophecies or Internal Affairs as evidence.

Grace is also pretty solid, I recently re-watched In Good Company and he delivered a well-layered performance that went from smarmy to likeable over the course of its ninety minute running time. His role in Spider-Man 3 might not have won fanboy plaudits but it did show that he’s willing to mix it up a bit.

It’ll also be interesting to see the former That 70’s Show star kick Predator ass in the sci-fi action sequel.

I doubt that The Double will set the box office alight, but I do feel the film will be a solid earner – able to remind film fans that there’s more to flicks than CGI and vampires!

More on The Double as it develops.

Source: Variety