Jonathan Levine got huge amounts of indie cred for All The Boys Love Mandy Lane and The Wackness, and since going slightly more mainstream with the much praised 50/50 last year, he’s been even more in demand. He recently filmed the zombie rom-com Warm Bodies and may move from that to Dead Spy Running, according to Twitch.
John Stock’s book has been through various Hollywood hands since it was first optioned in 2008, with the most recent being McG, who was set to direct for a while. Now he’s just producing and it’s him who’s keen to get Levine onboard. Screenwriter Steven Gaghan had been attached to helm for a while, but he stepped back due to scheduling issues and so will now just write the script.
A sort of lightly funny take on Bond, Dead Spy Running follows MI9 agent Daniel Marchant whose been rendered inactive thanks to American suspicions and trouble with his father. He then decides he wants to run the London marathon. While he thinks the worst that can happen is a sprained ankle and exhaustion, it turns out this decision comes fraught with danger from international terrorists.
This will be just one of the projects on Levine’s plate, as he’s also attached to Jamaica (reuniting him with 50/50 collaborators Will Reiser and Seth Rogen), Little Girl Lost and dystopian novel adaptation Legend.
