Denzel Washington to Star in Ludlum’s The Matarese Circle

Now I know a whole lot of you love the heck out of the Bourne movies, but let’s face it, if you’ve even read a single page of the novels by Robert Ludlum, you’ll know that aside from the first half of “The Bourne Identity”, the rest of the franchise had nothing whatsoever to do with the books. And as someone who pretty learned to appreciate the art of fiction by reading Ludlum’s books, I’m kinda pissed off by that. But nevermind me. The latest Ludlum work to be turned into a movie is the spy thriller “The Matarese Circle”, which has already found itself a major star in Denzel Washington (pictured, left).

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The project, “The Matarese Circle,” revolves around two secret agents — an American and a Russian — who must work together to fight a mysterious group of killers known as the Matarese. The twist: The agents, Bradley Scofield and Vasili Taleniekov, have been nemeses for years, with each responsible for killing someone close to the other. According to those familiar with the pitch, Washington would play Scofield.

Writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, who are pretty much writing everything not being written by the two guys from “Transformers” and the two other guys from “Pirates of the Caribbean”, are attached to the script, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler producing.

No word on where the movie will end up yet, but with Washington attached, and Ludlum’s name now big-time in Hollywood, you know this thing will get made pretty fast and sell like hotcakes at the theaters.

Best of all? I’ve never read “The Matarese Circle”, so I won’t hate the franchise like I do the “Bourne” one.