Despite scoring a solid hit with the first Divergent film and launching the franchise, director Neil Burger opted not to return for the sequel, citing the tight schedule. Since then, he’s been mulling over his follow-up choices and is now attached to spy thriller **All The Old Knives.
Olen Steinhauer’s book has yet to hit shelves either virtual or digital, but has already been snapped up by Chockstone Pictures, which hired the author to write the adaptation.
All The Old Knives finds two former lovers, one a current CIA spy and the other formerly of the agency, meeting for dinner and a trip down memory lane. They get talking about a disastrous mission gone wrong around the hijacking of a Royal Jordanian Flight, which ended with everyone on board dead. The failure still haunts the CIA’s Vienna branch and as the meal progresses, it becomes clear that one of the agents thinks there was more to it than first appeared. One of the former flames may not survive to the dessert course…
“Olen Steinhauer has written a fantastic, suspenseful, sophisticated drama set in the world of the CIA,” Burger tells Deadline. “As a director, I love that it’s a tightly woven puzzle, a mystery involving counter-terrorism and also a mystery of the human heart. Best of all are the two very clever and calculating characters at the centre of the story that are dealing with issues of loyalty, sacrifice and a lot of sexual tension. I can’t wait to start casting them.”
The book arrives in March. The film will now enter the casting stage and could potentially shoot next year.