Darren Aronofsky in talks to direct Red Sparrow adaptation

20th Century Fox recently acquired the rights to Jason Matthews' globe-trotting espionage thriller Red Sparrow and are in early discussions with critically acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky to be at the helm. If Aronofsky agrees to direct Red Sparrow, then he will begin working on the project after his current film Noah finishes production and makes its way into theaters in the spring of 2014. Red Sparrow would be a good fit for Aronofsky since the project has a few similarities to 2010's Black Swan, most notably the presence of a female protagonist who is required to make full use of both her body and mind in regards to her line of work. Also the genre of femme fatale spy thrillers has had a bit of success as of late with films such as Lust, Caution (Ang Lee) and Black Book (Paul Verhoeven). Darren Aronofsky is fully capable as well to give the film's overall tone the epic suspenseful-yet-energetic feel it needs to be on the level of spy thrillers such as the previously mentioned films as well as the Bourne series.

Since the discussions have only just recently began, there is no news yet on who will star in the espionage thriller, nor is there a release date yet. As of now Aronofsky is not even officially attached to the project either. Time will tell if Darren Aronofsky will sign on to the project and then begin it once he is finished with the production of Noah. If he does not sign on to Red Sparrow, the next project that Aronofsky has his sights on is a George Washington biopic titled The General.

UPDATE: Since entering negotiations to direct Red Sparrow, Aronofsky has officially decided to move on and not direct the adaptation. Fox is still looking to adapt the book, but since they don't have a script yet, they will hire a writer and then look for a director. There is a possibility that the extra time needed to flesh out a script will allow talks between Fox and Aronofsky to begin again and he could officially sign on. It will probably depend on whether or not the George Washington biopic moves forward soon, or some other project Aronofsky becomes attached to.

Source: Screen Rant , Collider