Firth, Fiennes, Fassbender, Oldman in LeCarre film

(Mars Distribution)

The 1974 classic spy novel by John LeCarre, Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spy, will be adapted as a film by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson with a screenplay by Oscar-nominated Peter Morgan ( Frost/Nixon and The Queen).

The all-star cast includes Ralph Fiennes ( Clash of the Titans), Colin Firth ( A Single Man), Gary Oldman, and Michael Fassbender ( Inglourious Basterds), according to entertainment publication Variety, in this story about a double-agent in the British Secret Intelligence Service in the aftermath of the Cold War who must be identified.

Alfredson, who directed Let the Right One In, will make his English-language debut with this film. The book was previously a British television series in 1979, starring Alec Guinness in the role of George Smiley from the suspense book series.

With Angelina Jolie's film Salt, about a Russian spy in the CIA, releasing in a couple weeks, the old spy business may find new life at the box office, especially with the next James Bond movie on hold indefinitely as MGM Studios deals with financial woes.

RC