Ragesh Dipu
Michael Fassbender will produce and play a lead role in the upcoming action-spy thriller from Lionsgate titled ‘Malko,’ reports Variety. The studio reportedly eyes to launch a ‘Malko’ franchise with the project which is based on the popular espionage novel series ‘Son Altesse Sérénissime (SAS)’ by French author Gérard de Villiers. Eric Warren Singer, who got an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for ‘American Hustle,’ is set to adapt the script for ‘Malko,’ announced Joe Drake, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group on Tuesday.
Fassbender will play the titular role of Malko Linge, the Austrian prince and a superspy. Lionsgate has also acquired the right to the catalog of de Villiers’ novel series which spans across 200 books. The plot centers on the adventures of Malko who alternates between his two identities of the Austrian nobleman and a freelance CIA undercover agent. He learned the field tactics from a covert Nazi camp for detained foreign agents.
Malko lives in his family estate and prefers to work without an agency or nationality tag around his neck. He executes the tasks according to his own moral code. The first movie will primarily focus on de Villiers’ book titled ‘Checkpoint Charlie,’ which is named after the notorious crossing point in Berlin Wall between East Germany and West Germany at the peak of the Cold War.
“We are enormously excited to be teaming with Greg Shapiro and Michael Fassbender, as well as Lars Sylvest from Black Magic and Thorsten Schumacher from Rocket Science, to develop Malko,” Joe Drake said in a statement. “This is a character with a tremendous 200-title library of amazing spy stories to draw from, and we believe we have a world-class creative team in place with Michael and Eric Warren Singer as we move forward on this project.”
Apart from playing Malko, Fassbender will produce the movie through his home banner DMC Film along with Black Magic’s Lars Sylvest, Kingsgate Films’ Greg Shapiro and Rocket Science’s Thorsten Schumacher. Singer, Jason Clark and DMC’s Conor McCaughan join the project as executive producers. Lionsgate’s James Myers and Brady Fujikawa will oversee the project.
Fassbender’s last Hollywood outing was the ill-fated ‘X-Men’ spin-off and finale ‘Dark Phoenix,’ in which he plays the character of Magneto. His upcoming projects include ‘Kung Fury 2,’ the feature film adaptation of the renowned martial arts-action-comedy short film of the same name directed by David Sandberg. The actor will be seen alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie which is in production in Bulgaria and Germany.
Cover Image Courtesy: Fox
