Claes Bang Joins Russell Crowe and Harry Lawtey in Cold War Thriller ‘Billion Dollar Spy' Directed by Amma Asante (EXCLUSIVE)
Claes Bang ('The Square,' 'The Northman') stars as a KGB counterintelligence officer in 'Billion Dollar Spy,' a cold war thriller headlined by Oscar-winner Russell Crowe and Harry Lawtey ('Industry').
Directed by BAFTA winner Amma Asante ('A Way of Life'), the film is produced by Walden Media and Weed Road Pictures.
More from Variety
Tarik Saleh on His Cannes Thriller 'Eagles of the Republic' Forming a 'Cairo Trilogy' With 'Boy From Heaven' and 'Nile Hilton Incident:' 'It's About Men Trying to Defeat a City that Cannot Be Defeated' (EXCLUSIVE)
'The History of Sound' Review: Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor Star in a Gay Period Romance That's Like 'Brokeback Mountain' on Sedatives
Neon Acquires North American Rights to Kleber Mendonça Filho's 'The Secret Agent'
Now shooting in Budapest, 'Billion Dollar Spy' is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author David E. Hoffman's book by the same name, about the true story of Soviet spy Adolf Tolkachev. Ben August ('Class Rank,' 'Remember') and Oscar-winner Stephen Gaghan ('Traffic') penned the screenplay. Variety revealed a first look of the film last week, as Cannes market kicked off.
Crowe stars as Tolkachev, who was among the CIA's most invaluable assets during the Cold War. Disillusioned with the Soviet regime, Tolkachev risked his life to pass thousands of pages of top-secret intelligence to the United States.
Lawtey plays his CIA handler inside Moscow Station. The cast is completed by Vera Farmiga, Willa Fitzgerald, Tony Goldwyn, Rufus Sewell and Justin Theroux.
Frank Smith, Benjamin Tappan, and Cher Hawrysh of Walden Media are producing alongside Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans of Weed Road Pictures. Jane Hooks serves as an executive producer. Pioneer Stillking Films' Ildiko Kemeny, David Minkowski, and Ferenc Szále will serve as co-producers. Naia Cucukov is an executive producer.
Bang became an international star after his breakout performance in Ruben Östlund's Oscar-nominated feature 'The Square' which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2017, and six European Film Awards, including best actor for Claes.
The actor's main credits also include 'William Tell;' 'The Northman;' 'Bonjour Tristesse;' 'The Girl in the Spider's Web' and the upcoming 'Wrecking Crew.' Bang is represented by UTA and UK-based Sharkey & Co.
Best of Variety
All the Godzilla Movies Ranked
Final Oscar Predictions: International Feature – United Kingdom to Win Its First Statuette With 'The Zone of Interest'
'Game of Thrones' Filming Locations in Northern Ireland to Open as Tourist Attractions
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ryan Gosling's ‘Star Wars: Starfighter': Everything to know as Mia Goth takes on the Mikey Madison role
This is as close as we're going to get a Barbie-MaXXXine crossover. Mia Goth is joining the new Ryan Gosling-powered Star Wars installment, Starfighter, taking over the role originally offered Anora Oscar winner Mikey Madison. The casting coup is the latest scrap of news about the anticipated project, which will be helmed by Shawn Levy and which had its coming-out party at Star Wars Celebration in April 2025. Here's everything we know so far about Star Wars: Starfighter. More from GoldDerby Danya Taymor could make Tony Awards history with a win for 'John Proctor Is the Villain' How 'Severance' creates Lumon's 'manufactured perfection' through VFX 'Say Nothing' star Anthony Boyle on playing IRA activist Brendan Hughes: We 'get to the humanity as opposed to the mythology' The are scant details about the plot, other than it is a one-off installment that involves Ryan Gosling's character and his young companion being pursued by villainous forces. Levy says that Starfighter will cover new territory in franchise storytelling and won't feature any of the major characters from prior releases. 'This is a standalone. It's not a prequel, not sequel. It's a new adventure. It's set in a period of time that we haven't seen explored yet,' the filmmaker said. 'The reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters,' said Gosling. 'It's filled with so much heart and adventure, and there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.' Starfighter the movie is not related to the 2001 video game of the same name from LucasArts that was set on the planet of Naboo during the time period of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Starfighter takes place about five years after the events of the last Star Wars feature, 2019's Rise of Skywalker. READ: Levy, a four-time Emmy nominee for Stranger Things and whose credits also include Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy and Night at the Museum, has been developing the project for the past three years with screenwriter Jonathan Tropper. The two previously collaborated on The Adam Project and This Is Where I Leave You. Gosling, a three-time Oscar nominee, was formally introduced as the lead at Star Wars Celebration after weeks of speculation. "That rumor is true," Levy said as he brought out his star to the stage to massive cheers. "The rumors are true." According to Variety, Mikey Madison was initially offered the female lead one of the baddies hunting down Gosling and his young sidekick. Madion reportedly turned down the role due to a pay dispute. It was confirmed that Mia Goth had accepted the role in June 2025. The news was initially reported by The InSneider. No other casting has been announced. Starfighter is slated to begin production in fall 2025 in England. Starfighter is scheduled to open May 28, 2027. Best of GoldDerby Stephen King movies: 14 greatest films ranked worst to best 'The Life of Chuck' cast reveal their favorite Stephen King works, including Mark Hamill's love of the 'terrifying' 'Pet Sematary' From 'Hot Rod' to 'Eastbound' to 'Gemstones,' Danny McBride breaks down his most righteous roles: 'It's been an absolute blast' Click here to read the full article.
Forbes
6 hours ago
- Forbes
‘The Phoenician Scheme' Reviews: Do Critics Buy Into Wes Anderson's Comedy?
Michael Cera, Benicio Del Toro and Mia Threapleton in "The Phoenician Scheme." Director Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme — starring Benicio Del Toro, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Bryan Cranston — is now in theaters. How are critics receiving the film? Rated PG-13, The Phoenician Scheme opened in limited release on May 31 before expanding to a wide release on Friday. Also starring Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend and Hope Davis, The Phoenician Scheme held its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May. The logline for The Phoenician Scheme reads, "The story of a family and a family business." Featuring a screenplay by Anderson and Roman Coppola, the offbeat comedy follows the story of European businessman Zsa-zsa Korda (Del Toro) and his only daughter and sole heir, a nun named Sister Liesel (Threapleton), who are each being targeted by assassins and schemers. As of Friday, Rotten Tomatoes critics have collectively given The Phoenician Scheme a 78% 'fresh' rating based on 185 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, 'A caper made with all the intricacy of a Rube Goldberg machine, The Phoenician Scheme doesn't deviate from Wes Anderson's increasingly ornate style but delivers the formula with mannered delicacy.' Audiences on RT gave the film a 73% 'fresh' score on the critic aggregation site's Popcornmeter based on 100-plus verified user ratings. Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal is among the top critics on RT who gives The Phoenician Scheme a 'fresh' rating on RT, writing, 'Given that The Phoenician Scheme essentially concludes by saying, as some of the director's other movies did, 'Forgive your ridiculous dad for his failings,' its major attraction is the whimsy with which it is decorated, or suffused, or infested.' Also giving The Phoenician Scheme a 'fresh' take on RT is Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post, who writes, "At its fleeting best — in its meditation on the transactional and the transcendent — this one feels like it's reaching for something more than surface charm." In addition, Justin Chang of The New Yorker gives the film a 'fresh' rating on RT, albeit with some minor reservations, writing, 'The result is more digestible, though also less moving, than Anderson's recent Asteroid City, but it does have a stealth emotional weapon in [Mia] Threapleton's Liesl, who exudes the intelligence and self-possession of a young Anna Karina.' Coleman Spilde of Salon is among the top critics on RT who gives The Phoenician Scheme a 'rotten' rating, writing in his summary, 'The resulting product is just that: a product, with all of the matte pastel appeal of Anderson's oeuvre, yet little of its memorable charm.' Dana Stevens of Slate also gives The Phoenician Scheme a 'rotten' rating on RT, writing, 'For all its exquisite boxes-within-boxes compositions and cleverly designed sets, this whole movie unfolded for me as if behind a thick pane of emotion-proof glass.' Nicholas Barber of the BBC wasn't impressed by the film, either, writing in his 'rotten' take on RT, 'Some directors boast that they make the films that they want to see, and they don't care about pleasing anyone else. In the case of The Phoenician Scheme, it feels as if Anderson and his team were enjoying it more than audiences ever will.' The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters in wide release.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Weeknd Might Not Be Retiring His Music Persona After All
The Weeknd has teased that Hurry Up Tomorrow— his sixth album and upcoming film of the same name— also marks the end of the artist fans have grown to love for over 15 years. However, that may not necessarily be the case. While promoting the film at CinemaCon 2025, Abel Tesfaye told EW that this moment feels like both a death and resurrection. 'It feels like it [the end of the Weeknd]. I mean, I've kind of toyed with the idea in the past with albums,' he noted. 'But it could also just be a rebirth. Who knows?' Back in January, the 35-year-old announced plans to retire his alter ego. 'It's a headspace I've gotta get into that I just don't have any more desire for,' he explained to Variety. 'You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.' Hurry Up Tomorrow marks the conclusion in the trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours, which was followed by 2022's Dawn FM. The film follows a fictionalized version of himself, also named Abel, who gets taken on an insane ride by a seductive stranger, Anima (Jenna Ortega). Director Trey Edward Shults, shared with EW in February that he 'tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it's very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it.' Shults confirmed that it was an 'absolute possibility' that the movie would be The Weeknd's last hurrah chapter, adding 'For people that aren't his fans and don't know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.' The Weeknd considers the film to be 'really introspective and cathartic.' It hits theaters this Friday. More from The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Film Trailer Hints At A Mind-Bending Experience The Weeknd Earns Fifth No. 1 Album With 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Debut The Weeknd Releases Star-Studded 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Movie Trailer
