After impressing this year with the one-two punch of Testament Of Youth and** Ex Machina**, Alicia Vikander is naturally in demand. She’s now making a deal to co-star with Tom Hanks in **The Circle{
The script, adapted from Dave Eggers' novel by James Ponsoldt, who is also in the director’s chair, follows a young woman (Vikander) hired to work for the titular internet megacorp. The idea behind the company is uniting users' email, social media, banking and online shopping in its universal operating system as one identity, with this leading to a new age of transparency and civility.
But of course, it’s not that simple – and the story becomes a thriller that exploits the dangers of a digital life where all personal data is collected and pervasive surveillance means that privacy is a thing of the past. And our heroine learns that she’s also at risk when she starts a relationship with the charismatic co-owner of the company (Hanks).
IM Global is selling the foreign distribution rights at the Cannes film market, and we’d expect a deal to come through quickly given the talent attached. Vikander will next be seen in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (out August 14), culinary comedy Adam Jones (October 2), real-life drama The Danish Girl (January 1, 2016) and The Light Between Oceans, which arrives on January 8 next year.