A few months ago, Milla Jovovich signed up to star in The Winter Queen. Now she’s got some company as it’s been announced that both Anjelica Huston and David Thewlis are in talks to join her. They will play Lady Astair and Count Zurov opposite Jovovich’s Lady Amalia.

Based on the internationally best selling novel by Boris Akunin and helmed by acclaimed Russian director Fedor Bondarchuk, The Winter Queen tells the story of intrepid young police detective Erast Fandorin and a mystery that begins with the suicides of several wealthy young men throughout 1886 Russia and ends in an extensive plot for global domination.

Fandorin’s naïve wit and the suave yet volatile Count Zurov are his only protection from the ever more elaborate attempts on his life as he follows the conspiracy from Russia to England and back again; navigating unknown worlds with charm if not with ease. The enigmatic femme fatale Amalia seems to be somehow at the centre of it all, but can the saintly British aristocrat Lady Astair, founder of a string of orphanages which have greatly benefited from the wills of the affluent dead men, really be trusted?

Additional casting announcements will be made shortly with principal photography expected to commence this April.