Entertainment One (eOne) and Mark Gordon announced today that two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode will join the Official Secrets cast. The gripping thriller, starring two-time Oscar-nominated actress Keira Knightley and Matt Smith, will be directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Gavin Hood (Eye in the Sky, Tsotsi). Principal photography on the project will start March 12 in Yorkshire, England.
Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun (Knightley), who during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing smaller, undecided member states into voting for war. In the film, Fiennes will play Ben Emmerson and Goode will portray Peter Beaumont.
Marking his second collaboration with Hood, Ged Doherty (Eye in the Sky, Loving) will produce with Elizabeth Fowler (Devil’s Knot) and Melissa Shiyu Zuo. Claudia Bluemhuber, Anne Sheehan, Hugo Heppell are executive producers. eOne will oversee production and will finance the project with Screen Yorkshire and Melissa Shiyu Zuo through her company GS Media. eOne will directly distribute the feature film in Canada, UK, Australia/New Zealand, Germany, Benelux and Spain. Sierra/Affinity will represent all other international territories outside of the US.
Fiennes most recent film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, A Bigger Splash and Hail Caesar! Goode’s recent film credits include Allied and The Imitation Game.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
