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Josh Hartnett is attached to star in a new Netflix thriller series, which will be his first leading TV show role in three years. Hartnett's The Fear Index ran for just one season in 2022, and the actor has only appeared on television in guest roles since. These include titles like The Bear and Black Mirror, where he appeared in the episode "Beyond the Sea," also on Netflix. Hartnett has also recently had a resurgence in his film career, with roles in Oppenheimer, Trap, and 2025's Fight or Flight.

Deadline reported that the Oppenheimer star will lead an untitled six-episode limited series set in Newfoundland, Canada, which will be produced by Josh Hartnett, Jesse McKeown, and Jessica Rhoades. Rhoades previously collaborated with Hartnett on his Black Mirror episode in 2023. The new thriller show will follow Josh Hartnett as a "hard-bitten fisherman" who has to protect his family, community, and way of...

Plot: When the reigning pope unexpectedly dies, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) must assemble the College of Cardinals to elect a new pope during a Conclave that grows increasingly bitter and deceitful.

Conclave was originally reviewed at TIFF 2024.

Review: Back at TIFF 2022, one of the festival’s biggest surprises was director Edward Berger’s powerhouse new take on the classic WWI story, All Quiet on the Western Front. It was a movie that no one expected much from, but it won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and was a major Best Picture contender up to the eleventh hour. It marked Berger as a prominent director, and now he’s back at TIFF with another stunning drama, Conclave.

Based on the novel by Robert Harris, what could have been a dry, talky drama becomes a riveting piece of work in Berger’s hands. While working from admittedly solid material, Berger expertly...

Exclusive: Ridley Scott’s production company has a new UK television chief.

Sharon Hughff, who was previously Creative Director, Scripted Television at eOne in the UK, has been named Head of Television at Scott Free UK.

Reporting to Scott Free’s Cco David W Zucker, and President of Television, Clayton Krueger, Hughff will oversee development and production for the company’s slate of scripted programming out of London.

It comes two years after Hughff joined eOne from The Crown producer Left Bank, where she produced series including Netflix’s White Lines and Sky/Cinemax series Strike Back.

She most recently exec produced the adaptation of Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow for Paramount+ and Showtime, which premieres later this month. The series stars Ewan McGregor and was written by Ben Vanstone.

Previous credits at Left Bank, where she was an executive producer include an adaptation of Louise Penny’s Three Pines...

SkyShowtime, the European streaming joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global, will continue its rollout with its biggest expansion to date via its launch in eight new markets across Central and Eastern Europe on Feb. 14.

The streamer said on Tuesday that it would debut on that day in Albania, Czechia, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. This will bring its reach to 20 of its 22 targeted markets.

“Customers across these launch markets will have access to exclusive television premieres of first-run theatrical films from Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, new and exclusive scripted series, kids and family content and a selection of iconic library titles and box sets from Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, Showtime, Sky Studios and Peacock – all streaming in one place,” the company said.” SkyShowtime will also feature local original programming, documentaries and specials from its markets. The company recently announced a deal acquiring 21 original series from HBO Max in Europe,...

Charmaine Bingwa (“The Good Fight”) and Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (“Tina -The Tina Turner Musical”) have been added to Showtime’s “King Shaka” cast as series regulars, the network announced on Thursday. Tony Kgoroge (“Invictus”), Sindi Dlatu (“The River”) and Bahle Hadebe (“Bone of My Bones”) will guest star in recurring roles.

According to their character descriptions, Bingwa will portray Isisa, a strong and very capable warrior whose loyalty is challenged after receiving a fateful encounter. Obi-Melekwe will play the Locust Queen, a mysterious leader of a migrant tribe of outcasts who gives herself an advantage by tapping into her deep knowledge of the spiritual world.

Kgoroge will guest star as Chief Senzangakhona, the proud leader of the Zulu people who denies Shaka’s birthright; Dlathu as Inyoni, a council leader and midwife; and Hadebe as young Shaka.

The group joins previously announced cast members Charles Babalola as King Shaka; Thapelo Mokoenaas as Gendeyana,...

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz) and Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage) are set as leads opposite Charles Babalola in Showtime’s King Shaka drama series. Additionally, Terry Pheto (Tsotsi) and Lerato Mvelase (Justice Served) will recur in the series executive produced by Antoine Fuqua.

Rooted in actual events, King Shaka tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesized to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul, in alliances that test the bonds of love and friendship, a complex sociological system plays out that renders the human cost front and center, for the victors as well as the vanquished,...

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SkyShowtime, the European streaming joint venture of Comcast’s Sky and Paramount Global, will launch on Sept. 20 in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, before debuting in the Netherlands during the fourth quarter, the companies said on Monday.

The service launch in a total of 22 markets had been eyed for late 2022 after the venture partners received approval from European regulators in February, but now the first date has been set, with additional market debuts targeted in the coming months or pushed into next year.

For example, the rollout plan covers service starts in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Central and Eastern Europe, including the likes of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, over the coming months and through the first quarter of 2023.

Exact further launch dates and pricing are expected to be unveiled over the coming months. Paramount Global teamed with Sky for SkyShowtime...

More than a year since SkyShowtime was first announced, the SVOD is ready to join the streaming fray in Europe, Variety can reveal.

The new platform — a joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global that was first unveiled in August 2021 — will officially launch on Sept. 20 in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, before expanding into the Netherlands later this year in Q4. (The service received regulatory approval in Europe back in February.)

Meanwhile, the SVOD will continue its roll out across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Central and Eastern Europe (Cee) over the coming months and through Q1 of 2023. Cee markets include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Specific launch dates and pricing in the aforementioned markets will be announced in the coming months. SkyShowtime is intended to sit in the European markets that aren’t already serviced by Paramount+.

Antoine Fuqua might have been known best for his big screen blockbuster work, but in the past few years, he's made a pretty triumphant transition to streaming. Of course, it took some "adjusting" on the director's part — with the Mark Wahlberg starrer "Infinite" quietly released on Paramount+, and the Jake Gyllenhaal-led thriller "The Guilty" making a similar debut on Netflix — but Fuqua has since found a major groove with television. With producer credits on the celebrated "Mayor of Kingstown" and the recent release of Prime Video series "The Terminal List," Fuqua is enjoying the freedom that long-form entertainment affords.

"I found it to be a really positive thing," Fuqua told /Film's Jack Giroux. The freedom of the new streaming landscape reminds the filmmaker of the risk-taking on display in the '70s. "You got a chance to just come in and try some things and be brave," Fuqua added,...

Charles Babalola (“The Outlaws”) has been cast as Shaka in the highly anticipated new series “King Shaka,” Showtime announced on Thursday.

The epic drama tells the story of one man’s personal journey from a stigmatized childhood to becoming a legendary king. Babalola will join series regulars Aïssa Maïga (“The Fear Index”) as Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny; and Thando DIomo (“The Woman King”) as Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s.

Also featured among the cast is Thapelo Mokoena (“Bulletproof”), who will guest star as Gendeyana, a Qwabe leader who grows close to Shaka and Nandi; and Warren Masemola (“Queen Sono”) as Magazwa, who provides safe haven to Shaka and Nandi but at a cost.

Production will take place next month in King Shaka’s South African hometown, KwaZulu-Natal (Kzn). The series will be...

Exclusive: The Outlaws star Charles Babalola is set to headline Showtime’s King Shaka, (fka Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation), executive produced by Antoine Fuqua.

Babalola will play the title role in the epic drama series, centered around one man’s personal journey from stigmatized childhood to warrior king, which hails from writers Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films and CBS Studios. Production kicks off next month in the historic KwaZulu-Natal (Kzn) South Africa province, the birthplace of King Shaka, and will be fully shot in South Africa for a 2023 debut on Showtime.

Also cast as series regulars in King Shaka are Aïssa Maïga (The Fear Index) as Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny; and Thando Dlomo (The Woman King) as Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s. Thapelo Mokoena (Bulletproof) will guest star as Gendeyana,...

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The return of Black Mirror is starting to take shape.

The upcoming sixth season, which has yet to set a premiere date, is rounding out its cast. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Zazie Beetz, Paapa Essiedu, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Paul, Kate Mara, Danny Ramirez, Clara Rugaard, Auden Thornton and Anjana Vasan are set to appear in the new episodes.

Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ acclaimed dystopian anthology, as THR has reported, is expected to have more episodes than the previous season, which had three installments, and will continue the show’s trend of producing longer and more cinematic stories. While the total episode count for season six hasn’t been announced, this batch of castmembers will star in the first three episodes, per sources.

Netflix declined to comment on the castings.

The previous season of Black Mirror aired back in 2019 and before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

A new cast has signed on for the next season of “Black Mirror,” Variety can reveal.

Netflix’s hit anthology series is gearing up for its long-awaited return and has lined up a star cast for Season 6. The show is now believed to be in production.

Sources indicate that the new faces joining the show are Zazie Beetz, Paapa Essiedu, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Paul, Kate Mara, Danny Ramirez, Clara Rugaard, Auden Thornton and Anjana Vasan. This casting specifically spans three episodes, and it’s understood more actors will join up for further episodes of the show.

Variety first revealed that a new season of the dystopian drama was in the works back in May. Specific details about stories are still being kept under wraps, but Season 6 will have more episodes than Season 5, which comprised of just three instalments and starred Andrew Scott, Anthony Mackie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace and Miley Cyrus.

Richard E. Grant bags guest role in ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ retelling

Withnail & I star Richard E. Grant has joined Disney+’s live-action drama Nautilus, with Muki Zubis (This is Going to Hurt) Benedict Hardie (The Luminaries), Jacob Collins Levy (Young Wallander) and Luke Arnold (Black Sails) also signing up to the cast. The show, from Moonriver TV and Seven Stories, is currently shooting at Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland, Australia. The show tells Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea from the point of view of Indian prince Captain Nemo (Shazad Latif) for the first time. Grant will guest star as the leader of Karajaan, a port town Nemo and his crew encounter on their adventures.

Vue International appoints Chief Operating Officer

Privately-held European cinema operator Vue International has hired Claire Arksey as Chief Operating Officer. She joins from clothing store Urban Outfitters, where she was responsible for 269 standalone stores across 14 countries.

Entertainment One has hired Left Bank executive producer Sharon Hughff to serve as creative director of scripted television out of the U.K.

In her new role, she will oversee the scripted team and pipeline from the U.K., while spearheading efforts to expand the slate into buyers in the U.K. as well as Europe and Asia. Based out of London, she will report into Pancho Mansfield, president of global scripted television for eOne.

A 20-year drama veteran, Hughff has spent the last nine years as executive producer at “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures. During her tenure there, she was responsible for the development and delivery of “The Halcyon” (ITV), “Strike Back” (Sky and HBO), “White Lines” (Netflix), “Three Pines” (Amazon) and, most recently, “The Fear Index” (Sky and Showtime).

Previously, she was an executive producer at Shed Media, producing the long-running series “Waterloo Road.” Her past producing credits include “EastEnders,...

The Berlinale was the world’s first big festival to embrace drama series, launching Berlinale Series in 2015 and adding a year later an industry component, known from 2019 as the Berlinale Series Market. It has grown into one of continental Europe’s biggest TV events. Following, seven takes on this year’s edition.

TV Tail Wags Film Dog

The Berlinale Series Market used to be a burgeoning sidebar. Now, added to the Festival’s Berlinale Series section, it’s the biggest industry event at the Berlin Festival. That’s of course a sign of the times. In 2017, almost 70% of the U.K.’s film/high-end TV production spend went to film. In 2021, the ratio was reversed, with the Hetv sector accounting for a massive $5.6 billion – 73% – of a total $7.6 billion spend, according to a BFI report. Money talks. Many Berlin competition movies are produced and sold by companies whose revenues might not reach $1 million a year.

To celebrate the release of The Fear Index, we spoke to the stars of the thrilling mini-series!

Based on a book by Robert Harris, The Fear Index revolves around a physicist Dr. Alexander Hoffman who is plunged into the scariest 24 hours of his life, following an attack in his home.

Lead actor Josh Hartnett and supporting actor Arsher Ali talk about what drew them to the project and how our reliance of technology is so terrifying. We also spoke with Leila Farzad about tackling trauma and art, and Gregory Montel’s homage to Colombo!

The Fear Index will be released on Sky Atlantic and Now on the 10th of February, 2022.

Plot:

Dr Alex Hoffman is launching Vixal-4 to investors – an AI-driven system that exploits fear in the financial markets and operates at lightning speed to make big returns. The promise is billions, the rich are ready to get richer… but...

Berlinale Series Market, Co-Production Market name selections.

The world premiere of French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie’s Nobody’s Hero will open the Panorama section at next month’s Berlin International Film Festival, marking the first time the director has screened at the event.

Nobody’s Hero is one of 16 world premiere additions to the Panorama strand, joining the 13 titles confirmed last month for a complete list of 29 films.

Scroll down for the full list of new titles

The film takes place after a terrorist attack in Clermont-Ferrand in France, and centres on a likeable man in his mid-thirties, an older...

“The Fear Index,” starring Josh Hartnett, and the third season of iconic Israeli series “False Flag” will both screen at the Berlinale Series Market Selects, whose lineup was unveiled Tuesday.

The latest from “The Crown” producers Left Bank Pictures, Sky Original “The Fear Index” is billed as a fast-paced, gripping Frankenstein-style parable on the dangers of AI. Based on the Robert Harris novel of the same title, its international sales will be handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

Sold by Keshet International, “False Flag” is one of milestone titles that turned Israel’s series into a global brand, with Fox International taking the world on season one at 2015’s Mipcom in its first global acquisition of a foreign-language series.

Season three marks the return of both original series creators, Maria Feldman and Amit Cohen, in a tale which looks set to weave the same web of distrust, deception and sudden twists as the first two seasons.

The program announcements continue for the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival this week, with the full Panorama line-up now confirmed.

Adding to the initial titles unveiled back in April are films including Alain Guiraudie’s Nobody’s Hero, which opens the strand this year.

Also confirmed today were the titles that will participate in the Berlinale Series Market and Co-Pro Series event this year.

Taking part in Berlinale Series Market Selects will be The Fear Index, the upcoming show from Left Bank Pictures that is set to star Josh Hartnett, as well as projects from Keshet, Viaplay and Globo. See the full lists below.

Tomorrow, Berlin chiefs Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek will unveil the 2022 Competition line-up at an event that kicks off at 11Am Cet.

Panorama Additions:

Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm

Germany

by Cem Kaya

World premiere / Panorama Dokumente

Baqyt (Happiness)

Kazakhstan

by Askar Uzabayev

with Laura Myrzakhmetova,...

Exclusive: Christopher Nolan continues to add stars to an ever-growing ensemble for his next film, Oppenheimer, as sources say Josh Hartnett has signed on to join the cast of the Universal tentpole. He joins an A-list cast already includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek and Cillian Murphy, who is set to star in the title role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who ran the Manhattan Project that led to the invention of the atomic bomb. The film will bow on July 21, 2023, a slot typically saved for Nolan films in the past. It’s also roughly two weeks before the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. Details behind who Hartnett will be playing are unknown at this time.

Universal had no comment.

Universal will distribute Oppenheimer theatrically worldwide and release the film in North America. Nolan will also be producing along...

It's been a few years now since we've had a new Paul Greengrass film to look forward to. His next film, Captain Phillips, won't hit theatres until late next year, but in the meantime, he has no shortage of follow-up projects in development. His Martin Luther King Jr. drama Memphis fell apart last year after it lost studio backing, but recently it was revealed that he is in the process of securing independent funding. He also has an adaptation of Robert Harris' The Fear Index in development along with a documentary about the Fc Barcelona soccer team. Now another project has surfaced that could potentially trump all of these: an untitled crime thriller starring George Clooney. Read on for more details. According to Variety, Paul Greengrass is attached to direct and produce an upcoming film for Sony from the same team that brought us Ben Affleck's Argo. George Clooney...

Despite being the world's favorite sport, and gaining increasing traction in the U.S., the number of great films about soccer (or football, as those of us in the rest of the world accurately call it), can be counted on the fingers of no hands. From John Huston's "Escape To Victory" to the would-be-blockbuster trilogy "Goal," virtually every attempt to capture the beautiful game on screen has stumbled badly, even as seemingly less cinematic sports like baseball and golf end up driving a string of classics.

But it sounds like one of Hollywood's biggest A-list directors is about to try and crack the code, albeit in documentary form, as 24 Frames report that Paul Greengrass, the British helmer behind "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," is planning to make a film on one of the world's most successful clubs, F.C. Barcelona. Entitled "Barca," the film will look at the Spanish club,...

It was obviously a bummer when it looked as if Paul Greengrass‘ Martin Luther King Jr. film, Memphis, might never see the light of day, but the Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone helmer has since moved on; this February, he’ll begin shooting the Tom Hanks starrer, A Captain’s Duty, and his options after that are actually quite varied. And, really, a couple of new films from him outweighs one never getting before cameras, right?

There’s very little doubt that he still wants to make it, however, and he might have found the people that will let him do so. ThePlaylist points out that, in a Variety article profiling Icon U.K. Group’s CEO, Aviv Giladi, the company is said to currently be negotiating for the project’s financing rights. Want more? Well, you won’t be getting it right now, but “more” isn’t what really...

Emmanuel Roman is intrigued by the hi-tech banking methods imagined in Robert Harris's latest work

Post-financial crisis, it was only a matter of time before Robert Harris introduced a new set of bad guys. We had Nazis in Fatherland, corrupt Roman politicians in Pompeii and, closer to home, a barely disguised Tony Blair-like figure in Ghost. In The Fear Index, Harris's latest thriller – which he is already adapting for film, to be directed by Paul Greengrass – we are cast into the dystopic world of finance where nerdy hedge fund managers and their computers may be the modern embodiment of evil. Perhaps Harris has been reading too much Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, as he gives the impression of believing that financial markets are one step away from some kind of twisted final stage of evolution.

The hero of The Fear Index is a brilliant physicist called Dr Alex Hoffman.

Update: This is now confirmed. At this point Paul Greengrass has not directed more movies than he's directed. Let me explain. Since his last film, Green Zone, the director has been attached to at least nine different projects. Some he's committed to doing [1], others just floated [2] his name, but considering he's only directed seven features (though we really only talk about five) it's a pretty staggering number of possible projects to be attached to in under two years. Either he's really unlucky, like was the case with [3] Memphis, or really picky, as was probably the case [4] with Fantastic Voyage. Most likely a combination of both. All this, of course, leads to the obvious. Novelist and screenwriter [5] Robert Harris said that Paul Greengrass is "on board" to direct the film version of his upcoming novel, The Fear Index. Read more after the jump. The news broke in an interview The Telegraph...

Has Paul Greengrass’ adaptation of Captain Richard Phillips’ story of when his ship Maersk Alabama (also the title of the film) was held hostage by Somali Pirates in 2009 and looked like it was ready to film this year with Tom Hanks in the leading role, fallen down at Sony Pictures? The film had huge momentum just two months ago but for a thriller that was looking ready to go in front of camera’s, things have gone eerily quiet leading some to believe Maersk Alabama is just the latest in a long line of unrealised Greengrass projects of 2010. Presumably Hanks has realised he is too busy with The Wachowski’s ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas and he has had to drop out…. and without Hanks, Sony don’t have a movie.

That would be a huge shame, not least because we are desperate for Greengrass to work again but also...

Back in June, Deadline revealed that Fox 2000 had acquired the Robert Harris thriller novel Fear Index, about a scientist who uses a revolutionary system of computer algorithms to trade on the volatility of the world’s financial markets. His hedge fund is wildly successful until he is targeted by an intruder who breaks into his home. At the time, I’d heard that Paul Greengrass was attached to direct, and his reps at CAA denied it. I wrote it anyway. Now, Harris has said in an interview for his soon to be published book that Greengrass is indeed going to direct and the filmmaker’s reps are now acknowledging it’s true. The novel will be published next month in the UK and January in the Us. Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping are the producers. and Harris is scripting it. Greengrass next directs the Somali...

A lot of authors have to suffer when they watch their books get adapted by idiots into movies that are either awful versions of what they wrote or don't really resemble their work at all. Robert Harris, on the other hand, had the luck of seeing his book The Ghost adapted into Roman Polanski's movie The Ghost Writer. And from the looks of it he'll be getting lucky twice-- he tells The Telegraph in the UK that he's currently adapting his new novel The Fear Index into a screenplay, and that none other than Paul Greengrass is on board to direct it. We heard back in June that Fox 2000 had picked up the rights to Harris's book, but at the time Greengrass was only "rumored to be interested;" apparently Harris now knows something that we don't, as he told the Telegraph that Greengrass is already on board. Though the...

Let’s get straight to the point with this one. Paul Greengrass is attached to direct an adaptation of Robert Harris‘ novel The Fear Index. Yeah, Harris is the same guy who wrote The Ghost novel, which was adapted into The Ghost Writer thriller by Roman Polanski, and that’s (I guess) the only reason for us [...]

Continue reading Paul Greengrass to Adapt The Fear Index on FilmoFilia

Related posts:Paul Greengrass to Direct The Deep Blue Good-By Paul Greengrass’ Final Word on Bourne Paul Greengrass To Write and Direct Martin Luther King Drama ‘Memphis’...

Robert Harris is set to pen the screenplay for an adaptation of his soon to be published novel, The Fear Index. The Telegraph reports that Harris has already begun writing the screenplay for the book, which arrives on shelves next month. Harris had this to say jokingly about the project, "I just hope that the capitalist system doesn't collapse before publication date."

The screen rights were snapped up by Rupert Murdoch's Fox film corporation after he had only written six of its 19 chapters. Paul Greengrass (United 93 and The Bourne Ultimatum) is already on board to direct.

Harris' book The Ghost was turned into The Ghost Writer from Roman Polanski. Harris co-wrote the screenplay with Polanski , but will write The Fear Index's on his own. He has become a lot more hands on after his bestselling novel, Fatherland, turned out poorly after it was adapted by Stanley Weiser and Ron Hutchinson.

Back in June author Robert Harris, whose books have been turned into films and TV movies like "The Ghost Writer," "Enigma" and "Fatherland", signed a deal with Fox 2000 for the film rights to his upcoming novel "The Fear Index".

Now, Harris confirms to The Telegraph (via Bleeding Cool) that Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Ultimatum") has signed on to direct the project.

The story involves a scientist who figures out how to use a revolutionary system of computer algorithms to trade on the world's financial markets, and his hedge fund reaps huge returns.

Late one night while he's asleep with his wife in their house beside Lake Geneva, an intruder awakens them. Over the course of a day, the scientist needs to figure out who's trying to destroy him as the world's financial markets teeter on collapse.

Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping will produce the film, no word yet as to a production schedule.

While we last heard that United 93 helmer Paul Greengrass would be directing the Somali pirate rescue story Maersk Alabama with Tom Hanks in the lead role, but we haven't heard anymore development on that project yet. After all, the director fell away from projects like Rush (now in Ron Howard's hands) and Fox's Frankenstein (now likely going to Shawn Levy), so he may just have lost interest. Now another project has popped up that could be in the filmmaker's future as The Telegraph (via The Playlist) has learned from author Robert Harris that Greengrass is attached to direct an adaptation of his novel The Fear Index. The novel won't be released until January of next year (pre-order it right here), but the story is said to follow a genius who creates a highly profitable hedge-fund based on a computer that can predict human mood swings. His world is,...

Paul Greengrass needs to get a film going. Not for him. He'll be fine. For me. I want to see a new film from him. He's been flirting with a variety of projects ever since Green Zone including Fantastic Voyage, Treasure Island, Cleopatra, The Deep Blue Good-By, and Rush. It looked like the Mlk assassination drama Memphis was going to be his next project but Universal got cold feet at the last minute. From my understanding, it showed Martin Luther King Jr. as a real person instead of saint (I think showing his flaws does the man more credit than trying to gloss over his flaws). Greengrass was then offered the Somali pirate drama Maersk Alabama starring Tom Hanks but the project seems to have stalled. Now it looks like he may be circling an adaptation of Robert Harris' novel The Fear Index. Harris tells The Telegraph [via The Playlist] that Greengrass...

Tree of Life actor says he was trying to figure out what role he played in Terrence Malick's Palme d'Or-winning film, while Christian Bale signs on for a new Malick project

The big story

"Mother ... Father ... Always you wrestle inside of me. Always you will. Oh ... and what's going on again?"

This week it emerged that Sean Penn seems to have been as mystified by The Tree of Life as the rest of us. "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that same emotion on screen," said the actor of Terrence Malick's graceful meditation on the meaning of life / unnaturally long ode to self-involvement.

"A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact," said Penn. "Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there and what...

Novelist to write screenplay for financial crisis thriller, with The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass tipped to direct

Robert Harris is to follow-up the success of his Roman Polanski collaboration, The Ghost, reports the Daily Telegraph. The British novelist, who co-wrote Polanski's political thriller, will write the adapt his own forthcoming book, The Fear Index.

The novel concerns the inventor of a computer system that can predict human mood swings, which he uses to set up a profitable hedge fund. However, matters go awry when an intruder breaches the security system. On a wider level, the book is said to be about an impending meltdown in the financial markets. "I just hope that the capitalist system doesn't collapse before publication date," Harris said recently.

The Daily Telegraph reports that The Fear Index has been picked up by 20th Century Fox, with The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass being tipped to direct.

The past year or so has been a tough one for Paul Greengrass. Universal calling off the plans for Memphis led to the Bourne director not really knowing what movie to tackle next, and his name was just kind of thrown around for months. That period might be over, with signs pointing to him helming Maersk Alabama with Tom Hanks in the lead for his next film.

That might still be the case, but there’s at least one more project to add to his slate; The Telegraph (via BleedingCool) says that Robert Harris — whose novel The Ghost was adapted by Roman Polanski for last year’s The Ghost Writer — will be scripting the film version of his upcoming book, The Fear Index, and the author revealed that Greengrass will be directing.

Said to involve the stock market, the plot follows “a man who invents a computer that is capable of predicting human mood swings,...

Fox 2000, Chernin Entertainment get screen rights to upcoming The Fear Index Robert Harris novel The a thriller is being published by Knopf will publish in September, reports Deadline. Movie is being produced by Peter Chernin along with Jenno Topping and Dylan Clark. The Fear Index is a contemporary thriller set in the competitive world of high finance. Story focuses on Dr. Max Hoffman, a legendary physicist who was once employed on the Large Hadron Collider and now uses his secret system of computer algorithms for trading in the world's financial markets. No one, including his rivals are sure how he does it, but his hedge fund - the "Fear Index" generates big returns for investors.

Fox 2000, Chernin Entertainment get screen rights to upcoming The Fear Index Robert Harris novel The a thriller is being published by Knopf will publish in September, reports Deadline. Movie is being produced by Peter Chernin along with Jenno Topping and Dylan Clark. The Fear Index is a contemporary thriller set in the competitive world of high finance. Story focuses on Dr. Max Hoffman, a legendary physicist who was once employed on the Large Hadron Collider and now uses his secret system of computer algorithms for trading in the world's financial markets. No one, including his rivals are sure how he does it, but his hedge fund - the "Fear Index" generates big returns for investors.