Martin Freeman is going undercover, just days after it was announced his Sherlock bud Benedict Cumberbatch would also be playing a spy.
But before you get excited about seeing them face off against each other, we’re talking about two separate films. (Sorry about that.) Whereas Benedict will portray a real-life British spy in Ironbark, Deadline reports Martin will join Diane Kruger for international espionage thriller The Operative.
Martin plays Thomas, an agent handler for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, who’s summoned from Germany to Israel when one of his former operatives Rachel (Kruger) vanishes while attending her father’s funeral in London.
Her mission, at least before she disappeared, was to work against Iran’s nuclear program and the authorities are concerned she may have turned rogue. It’s Thomas’ job to retrace her steps and protect her.
The film is an adaptation of The English Teacher, a bestselling account based on real-life stories of Mossad operatives by former Israeli intelligence officer Yiftach Reicher Atir, and is being made by writer/director Yuval Adler (Bethlehem, Shooter).
It’s scheduled to start filming next month in Israel and Bulgaria, just after the release of Cargo, another thriller starring Martin as a father trying to save his baby daughter from a virus outbreak.
Do you think Martin or Benedict will make the better spy?