Following the success of The Night Manager and its three Golden Globes wins, the creators are teaming up to take on another John Le Carré novel: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. American network AMC will again team up with the BBC to adapt one of Le Carré’s most popular books.
The novel, written in 1963, follows Alex Leamas: “a hard-working, hard-drinking British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters. His agents are either on the run or dead, victims of the ruthlessly efficient East German counter-intelligence officer Hans-Dieter Mundt. Leamas is recalled to London – where, to his surprise, he’s offered a chance at revenge. But to get it, he may have to stay out in the cold a little longer…”
The novel was originally adapted into a film in 1965 starring Richard Burton and directed by Martin Ritt.
Simon Beaufoy (writer of Slumdog Millionaire, The Full Monty) will adapt the series and said with glee: “It’s incredibly exciting to be working on the best Cold War spy story ever written”, while Le Carré himself added “I’m very excited by the project, and have great confidence in the team”.
At the time of its release, the novel immediately received critical acclaim, became an international bestseller and was later named in Time Magazine’s list of All-Time 100 Novels.
Expectations will be incredibly high following the success the the first Le Carré adaptation, and rather than take any risks the BBC has smartly enlisted the services of the same team that brought both fresh and experienced eyes to the first Le Carré adaptation. Whether they’ll do justice to both the book and the film adaption, only time will tell.
#Peace.Love.TheSpyWhoCameInFromTheCold
