Brosnan to play a former PM with a freebie-loving wife

When Robert Harris published a bestselling political thriller about the nefarious deeds of a former prime minister and his freebie-loving wife, it was thought to be a "thinly veiled, possibly vengeful novel" about his one-time friend, Tony Blair.

But if Mr Blair was stung by the description of the central character in The Ghost, he may have felt differently yesterday after hearing that the actor cast for the lead in its film adaptation is the former James Bond star, Pierce Brosnan.

And alongside Brosnan will be Tilda Swindon as his wife, who is thought to be based on Cherie Blair. Directing the production will be Roman Polanski, director of The Pianist and Chinatown.

For Mr Blair, the outcome in casting the protagonist could have been far less flattering. In the past, he has been played by the Welsh actor Michael Sheen in the Stephen Frears' films, The Queen and The Deal, and he is much smaller than Mr Blair.

Harris said he wholeheartedly approved of Brosnan in the lead. "When his name was floated months ago, I though it was a good idea," he said. "He has got a kind of charm and the good looks. I wanted to get away from the idea of a lookalike – that features in The Queen – so I thought this was an excellent idea."

Filming will begin on 2 September in Berlin, as well as studio Babelsberg, where the Holocaust drama, The Pianist, was also filmed, and the Island of Sylt in northern Germany. Release of is expected in autumn next year.

Polanski has filmed most of his films in Europe since the late 1970s. He set his sights on the drama last year after he pulled out of directing the $100m epic, Pompeii, another adaptation of a Harris book. At the time, he said he had been "seduced by the writing" in Harris's bestseller, but the writers' strike delayed filming. Harris, the screenwriter for Pompeii, also sent Polanski a fresh manuscript of The Ghost. Harris and Polanski co-wrote the script for the film.

In Harris's book, the premier is described as a man of little conviction, slavishly subservient to an incompetent US president, touchy about references to his student acting skills and with a brainy wife who "loved their summer freebies in the Caribbean".

John Rentoul's verdict on the other Blairs

Michael Sheen

Portrayed Blair inThe Queen (2006), and The Deal (2003)

Brilliant at capturing Blair's hesitancy and apparent nervousness, but made it look real rather than the people-handling tactic it was – thus failing to capture the steeliness.

Robert Lindsay

Played the lead inAlistair Beaton's The Trial of Tony Blair (2007)

A superb performance in this anti-war propaganda that bore no relation to the real Blair, whose confidence that he was doing the right thing was shaken but never destroyed.

James Larkin

In Peter Kosminsky's The Government Inspector (2005)

Conveyed a leader who was determined to get his way in a balanced account of the death of David Kelly, spoilt by the easy portrayal of him as being henpecked by Cherie.

Jonathan Cullen

In Why We Wentto War (2006)

Cullen's slightly foppish good looks make one think of Hugh Grant rather than Blair, but he did manage to convey a sense of forcefulness, spoilt by copying the "y'knows".