STRATAGEM: Espionage Action Thriller Launches At Cannes, Lead Cast Announced
Highland Film Group is announcing Stratagem, a new action thriller cranking up in Europe later this year. The company is launching sales repping international rights on the pic at the Marché du Film with CAA Media Finance handling domestic.
Acclaimed novelist and filmmaker Michael Idov (The Humorist, Jetlag) will direct a cast led by Noomi Rapace (Black Crab) and Teo Yoo (A24’s Past Lives). “Deutschland 89” series scribes Michael and Lily Idov who also wrote Kirill Serebrennikov’s 2018 Cannes title, Leto, also starring Yoo, are penning the script.
At an exclusive cybersecurity summit nestled in the Swiss Alps, CIA agent Stella Turner (Rapace) goes undercover to seduce and recruit enigmatic tech savant Daniel Sim (Yoo) whose genius may be the key to stopping a catastrophic leak of U.S. defense secrets. But the tables turn fast: Daniel is no ordinary target—he’s a master manipulator with a secret of his own. As the line between ally and adversary blurs, seduction turns into full-blown psychological warfare, and Stella finds herself walking into a trap of global proportions.
Academy Award-nominated producer David Lancaster (Whiplash, Nightcrawler) and Matt Leipzig (I See You starring Helen Hunt, Joyland) are producing. Exec producing are Julie Kroll, as well as Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser, and COO Delphine Perrier, whose label is repping international rights and launching sales at the Cannes market. CAA Media Finance is handling US rights.
“Stratagem is an incredibly cool, sleek, elevated and intense espionage thriller where nothing—and no one—are what they seem. It’s a taut, edge of your seat spy thriller full of twists and turns that ratchets up the tension scene by scene,” said Fraser. “Michael Idov has assembled a truly stellar cast led by Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo to bring his fresh take on a beloved genre to life. We are delighted to be working with producer David Lancaster who continues to be a guiding force behind some of today’s most innovative films – it’s the perfect addition to our Cannes slate,” added Perrier.
“As soon as we read the Idovs’ page-turning script for Stratagem, we knew we wanted to make this movie, so audiences around the world could share our excitement. Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo are the perfect artists to realize Michael Idov’s vision for an intense, sophisticated espionage thriller,” said Lancaster and Leipzig.
“What begins as two people flirting in a bar becomes recruitment, rivalry, a hostage situation, a rescue, and finally world-altering romance — all in a matter of hours. And, in Noomi Rapace and Teo Yoo, I have the best imaginable actors to bring these characters to life,” added Idov.
Rapace gained international recognition for her performance in the BAFTA-winning film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels. Her credits also include Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Prometheus, Netflix’s What Happened to Monday, Amazon drama “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” A24’s Lamb, and upcoming Focus Features’ release, Hot Spot.
Yoo is additionally best known for MUBI’s Decision to Leave and appearing opposite Noah Centineo in the second season of Netflix series “The Recruit,” and will next be seen leading Lionsgate’s Karoshi, starring Cynthia Erivo.
Rapace is repped by the Gersh Agency and Stella Härnström at Luz Eterna; Yoo is repped by CAA, Authentic Talent & Literary Management, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Michael and Lily Idov are represented by CAA and Modern Literary Arts.
Lead image: Lenita Visan
