Paul Mescal To Lead Spy Thriller ‘A Spy By Nature’ — AFM

HanWay Films is launching worldwide sales on A Spy By Nature, a thriller starring Paul Mescal (Normal People) at AFM next month. CAA is co-repping domestic rights.

The film is directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Mauritanian) and is an adaptation of the first novel in Charles Cumming’s bestselling Alec Milius spy series adapted for the screen by John Hodge (Trainspotting), with the most recent draft by Joseph Charlton (Industry).

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The pic follows Alec Milius, a disillusioned twenty-something whose gift for deception catches the eye of MI6. Caught up in the thrusts of a geopolitical war on commodities involving the British and the Americans, at home he struggles to preserve his relationship with his girlfriend and build a future together. As his web of lies grows, Alec is forced to confront his own nature – whether he can be a good man as well as a good spy.

The film is produced by Chris Clark (All the Money in the World, Calvary, Legend) and Quentin Curtis (All the Money in the World, Legend). Serving as executive producers, HanWay Films and Ingenious Media developed the project together with the producers.

“I’ve wanted to make A Spy By Nature for many years – and when I met Paul Mescal, with his beguiling mixture of intelligence, skill, and youth, I knew I’d found the perfect star,” Macdonald said. “This is a very modern spy story – sexy, dangerous, morally ambivalent – and only an actor of Paul’s talent could pull it off.”

The film was produced by Chris Clark for RedRum Films and Quentin Curtis. It was developed by HanWay Films and Ingenious Media with development funding from the British Film Institute.

HanWay Films CEO Gabrielle Stewart added: “Paul Mescal feels like the actor of the moment, so to have him team up with Kevin Macdonald to bring to the screen the compelling origins story of popular young spy Alec Milius is extremely exciting. We love the fresh setting of millennial contemporary London and the modernity of the characters and their relationships. I feel confident we will all want to revisit this young spy in his next adventure with what could be the beginning of an exciting new franchise”

Paul Mescal is repped by the Curtis Brown Group, CAA, and Public Eye Communications.

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