Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg set to reunite for Cold War spy thriller

The actor and director are reportedly teaming up for a fourth time

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks has reportedly signed on to play a US lawyer in a new spy thriller (Getty Images)

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks look set to reunite once more for a new Cold War spy thriller.

The Captain Phillips actor has reportedly signed up for the as-yet-untitled movie, based around the 1960 capture of US pilot Gary Powers in Soviet Russia. Hanks has been cast as James Donovan, the lawyer sent by the CIA to negotiate Powers’ release.

Spielberg meanwhile is keen to direct but has not been confirmed for the DreamWorks project. Matt Charman has written the script and Marc Plat will produce according to industry insider The Wrap.

Hanks and Spielberg, both Oscar winners and long-term friends, have worked together on three past films: Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and the less successful The Terminal. The pair also co-produced WWII mini-series The Pacific and Band of Brothers.

Spielberg is currently eying two other productions, sci-fi epic Robopocalypse and historical drama Montezuma, but which one he will settle on next remains unknown.

Hanks is shooting indie movie A Hologram For The King, in which he plays Alan Clay, a failed businessman who relocates to Saudi Arabia.