Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace who have already signed up to star in Fox Searchlight‘s Animal Rescue, may be planning back-to-back projects as the duo were also considering the big screen adaptation of author Tom Rob Smith’s novel ‘Child 44.’
The first book in a trilogy is set in the Joseph Stalin-era Soviet Union focuses on Leo Demidov, an Mgb Agent who is assigned to investigate a series of gruesome child murders.
The story is based on the real life tale of Ukrainian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo aka the Rostov Ripper who was executed in 1994 for committing the murder of about 56 women and children between 1978 and 1990.
Hardy will play the Soviet officer, while Rapace will play his mysterious wife, who pretends to be a fitting partner, but is hiding many thoughts and feelings.
Safe House helmer Daniel Espinosa is set to direct the thriller along with scribe Richard Price (Clockers).
Animal Rescue will shoot first starting in March, and Child 44 will start filming in May in Budapest after the two complete Animal Rescue.
Here’s a synopsis for ‘Child 44′:
In a country ruled by fear, no one is innocent.
Stalin’s Soviet Union is an official paradise, where citizens live free from crime and fear only one thing: the all-powerful state. Defending this system is idealistic security officer Leo Demidov, a war hero who believes in the iron fist of the law. But when a murderer starts to kill at will and Leo dares to investigate, the State’s obedient servant finds himself demoted and exiled. Now, with only his wife at his side, Leo must fight to uncover shocking truths about a killer-and a country where “crime” doesn’t exist.
Source: THR
