“Official Secrets” rack up impressive cast
Harrison Ford knows a thing or two about official secrets, thanks to his days involved with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, but his new film is one he can actually talk about freely. It was announced yesterday that Ford would be joining director Justin Chadwick's “Official Secrets”, the much more succinctly titled adaptation of Marcia and Thomas Mitchell's best-selling book, “The Spy Who Tried To Stop A War: Katherine Gun and The Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion”. That mouthful was adapted by Sara and Gregory Bernstein and will be produced by Elizabeth Fowler.
Also joining Ford in this new endeavor are Paul Bettany of Marvel movies fame, Natalie Dormer of HBO's “Game of Thrones”, Martin Freeman of “The Hobbit” films, and the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins. They're all on board the espionage thriller which is slated to begin principal photography in May 2016 in the UK.
The film's synopsis is as goes: In the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Katharine Gun (Dormer), a young British intelligence officer reveals a secret illegal NSA spy operation against the UN Security Council designed to ensure passage of a resolution for war to Martin Bright (Bettany) a reporter at a British newspaper. Katharine's arrest following the leak makes headlines around the world. In an attempt to gain the evidence to free Katharine, Martin unearths the shocking plot which puts both Katharine and Martin's lives in great jeopardy. Martin Freeman will be playing Peter Edwards, the foreign affairs editor at newspaper, The Observer, while Hopkins is playing a retired UK general, and Ford, a CIA agent.