A new CIA action thriller titled Amateur is leaping onto the docket at 20th Century Studios, and its already star-studded cast is about to grow even bigger. Per a report from Deadline, both Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson have officially come aboard the big budget project.
Amateur, which is based on an original novel by Robert Littell, is set to be an action-packed, CIA spy thriller feature perfectly suited for the big screen. It's being helmed by James Hawes, who previously worked on AppleTV+ drama thriller Slow Horses, which starred the likes of Gary Oldman (Oppenheimer), Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Tomb Raider). Adapting the screenplay is Ken Nolan, with revisions done by Scott Frank and Gary Spinelli. Producers include Hutch Parker and Dan Wilson. The A-list cast so far includes Rami Malek (No Time to Die) in the lead role along with newcomers Holt McCallany (Nightmare Alley) and Julianne Nicholson, who most recently starred as Marilyn Monroe's mother in the controversial drama film Blonde (2022). Other notable cast includes Adrian Martinez (Renfield), Caitríona Balfe (Ford v Ferrari), Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter Four), and Rachel Brosnahan, who is fresh off of the final season of Amazon's award-winning series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The premise of the film centers on the life of CIA cryptographer Charles Heller (Rami Malek), who becomes incredibly distraught when his wife is suddenly killed in London terrorist attack. He demands that his bosses at the CIA go after the suspects behind the attack, but they opt to look the other way due to internal conflicts. Seeing no other way, Heller decides to blackmail the agency into training him and allowing him to go after the perpetrators himself. McCallany will reportedly play the "kill whoever we want" CIA careerist Deputy Director Moore, but he is not yet officially confirmed for that specific role. Nicholson's role is still being kept completely under wraps.
McCallany's Latest Projects Putting Him Up Front
Holt McCallany has been emerging more front and center in a variety of projects lately, including Netflix's Mindhunter series (2017-19) as FBI agent Bill Tench, AMC's legal drama 61st Street (2022), Guillermo del Toro's psychological thriller Nightmare Alley (2021) and is set to make an appearance as Secretary of Defense Bernstein in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two (2024), which will be the crowning finale of Tom Cruise's legendary action franchise. He'll also be playing champion wrestler Fritz von Erich in A24's upcoming film Iron Claw.
As for the other new cast member, Julianne Nicholson recently appeared in Blonde, the Netflix movie featuring Ana De Armas in an Oscar-nominated performance as Marilyn Monroe. She also appeared as Mary Yankovic, the mother of the titular parodist, in the comedy biopic WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story. She is also set to star with Nicolas Cage and Michael Cera in the upcoming comedy Dream Scenario, which also comes from the studio A24.