Fox Acquires Soviet Spy Tale For Marc Webb To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: In the second big material deal of the day, Fox has acquired Cold Comfort (aka How To Catch A Russian Spy), a film that will be developed as a directing vehicle for Marc Webb. The subject of the book is keeping his name under wraps, and it is being co-written by Ellis Henican, a longtime pal of mine from Newsday who’s still a columnist there and a bestselling author. Several studios and directors were in the mix on this one, because it’s such a strong star vehicle for a comic actor in the vein of Jonah Hill.

This is the true account of an American civilian-turned-self-taught spy, who worked with the FBI to bring down a Russian intelligence agent on American soil. Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar and Bard Dorros are producing, with Webb also serving as producer. Fox’s Emma Watts and Kira Goldberg negotiated this with CAA and Hannah Gordon and Peter McGuigan at Foundry Literary + Media. Scribner will publish the book.

Next up for Webb is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, out this summer for Sony Pictures.