Mark Rylance Joins Steven Spielberg's Cold War Thriller

If you needed any confirmation about what Steven Spielberg's next movie will be, this could provide the news you're looking for. Tom Hanks and Spielberg have been developing a true-life Cold War thriller, and a new actor has just signed on. Mark Rylance (Anonymous (above), The Other Boleyn Girl) will now play  a role in the film that has a recent rewrite by Joel and Ethan Coen. The movie will tell "the true story of James Donovan, an attorney who was put into the center of the Cold War when he negotiated the release of downed U-2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers."

Variety has the news that Rylance, fresh off a Tony win for Twelfth Night, will appear in the film. There is no information on his character.

What we do know about the project is that the goal is to shoot this September, and that it was originally set in motion by a script from Matt Charman. His work was a true-life cold war drama following a US attorney who negotiated with the KGB to secure the release of a spy plane pilot. The script got some attention, Tom Hanks came on board, and then Steven Spielberg was attached to direct the Dreamworks project.

While we know little, at this point the roster of talent involved just keeps getting better. Spielberg directing these two men with a script that has input from the Coen Brothers sounds like a dream.