Cruise joins Washington in The Matarese Circle

Washington (ANI): American actor Tom Cruise is set to join actor Denzel Washington in the David Cronenberg-directed adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller The Matarese Circle for MGM. Cruise and Washington play the role of two bitter enemy spies who, after spending two decades trying to kill each other, grudgingly team up against the Matarese, a powerful group at the root of a conspiracy.

The script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas contemporises Ludlum's original Cold War premise, the Variety reports. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler will produce with Jeffrey Weiner and Ben Smith's newly formed Captivate Entertainment, and Henry Morrison will be exec producer.

The Matarese Circle will strictly be an MGM picture and the combination of Cruise, Washington and Cronenberg makes The Matarese Circle the marquee film under the new regime of MGM topper Mary Parent.