The American Hustle co-stars are reportedly set to appear in Best Of Enemies, a new project which several studios are said to be interested in.
David O Russell’s American Hustle came out almost a decade ago, marking the last time we saw Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper share the screen. In the years since, Bale has continued to build the kind of diverse filmography that we’ve come to expect from the British actor, inhabiting roles that range from controversial politician Dick Cheney to biblical legend, Moses.
Bradley Cooper meanwhile has spent the same period working with high-profile directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Clint Eastwood and Guillermo del Toro, as well as making his own name as a filmmaker, first with 2018’s A Star Is Born and also with this year’s Maestro.
According to Hollywood reporter Jeff Sneider, the duo are set to share the screen again – this time as spies – in the upcoming espionage movie, Best of Enemies. Both actors have signed onto the project which has been written for the screen by American Hustle's Eric Warren singer and is set to be produced by Chuch Roven, another American Hustle alumnus.
Does that mean we can expect American Hustle's director, David O Russell to be on board too?
Not according to Sneider’s report, which suggests that Cooper might take up the directorial reins for the project, continuing what has thus far been an impressive segue into a directing career. Several studios are said to be interested in the project with Apple and Netflix considered to be in the lead.
Here’s a description of the film’s setup:
‘The story follows two Cold War spies — CIA case officer Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko — who became improbable friends at a time when they should’ve been anything but. They were both new arrivals in Washington D.C. in 1978 when their respective agencies assigned each man to seduce the other into betraying his country during the final days of the Cold War. Many years later, they helped discover the Soviet mole Robert Hanssen together and solved several other high-profile espionage mysteries.’
Cooper is expected to be playing Platt whilst Bale is set to play his Russian counterpart. The word is that the wheels are turning pretty quickly on this one and it could go straight into production, with Spielberg’s reimagining of Bullitt (which is rumoured to star Bradley Cooper in the title role) being the only possible impediment to those plans. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it, including which studio comes out on top and secures the rights to the project.
