Matthew Vaughn Signs on to Direct Spy Thriller I Am Pilgrim

Director Matthew Vaughn will helm I Am Pilgrim for MGM

Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class) has signed on to direct Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’ feature film adaptation of Terry Hayes’ international bestselling espionage thriller I Am Pilgrim, it was announced today by Jonathan Glickman, MGM’s President, Motion Picture Group. Vaughn will also produce and co-finance through his Marv Films. Lloyd Braun is also producing through his Whalerock Industries with Andrew Mittman serving as executive producer. Hayes, former journalist and award-winning screenwriter (Payback, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Dead Calm) is adapting his novel for the screen. Production is scheduled to begin in 2016.

“Pilgrim” is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Now in anonymous retirement, he is called upon to lend his expertise to an unusual investigation but ultimately becomes caught in a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion.

Beyond becoming a reader and bookseller favorite, I Am Pilgrim was THE summer thriller of 2014, appearing as a top choice in summer round-ups all over the country, hitting the New York Times Best Seller list, and spending four weeks as a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Translated in over 30 languages, the novel has also been a massive bestseller in the UK (where it was the bestselling debut of 2014 and has sold over 750,000 copies), as well as Holland, France, Spain, Japan and Scandinavia.

“We could not be more excited to have a consummate filmmaker like Matthew to bring ‘I Am Pilgrim’ to the screen,” said Glickman. “His sensibility, coupled with Terry Hayes’ incredible story, gives us the ideal team to bring this character to the world wide audience.”

MARV Films has produced and co-financed Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel to which Matthew is currently writing and will direct next year; Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2 starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson ; The Debt starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, and Tom Wilkinson; and Eddie the Eagle starring Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, which will be released in the spring of 2016.

The post Matthew Vaughn Signs on to Direct Spy Thriller I Am Pilgrim appeared first on ComingSoon.net.