Cinemystery: Production Update on Film Adaptation of Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Earlier this year we had the lead casting news for the film adaptation of Tom Rob Smith's Cold War thriller Child 44. Today THR is reporting that financing is nearly complete, suggesting production could get underway as early as this June.

Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace are already on board to star as is Daniel Espinosa, directing an adapted screenplay by Richard Price.

Published in 2008, Smith introduced state security agent Leo Demidov in the novel, which is set in the Soviet Union of the early 1950s. Envisioned as a the first of a trilogy of thrillers, he followed it in 2009 with The Secret Speech and concluded the series with Agent 6 in 2012.

More about the book — which was honored with several awards including the 2008 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the 2009 Thriller Award for Best First Novel — below.

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Child 44
Tom Rob Smith
A Leo Demidov Mystery

Stalin's Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals.

But in this society, millions do live in fear … of the State. Death is a whisper away. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty — owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time — sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic than Leo Demidov.

A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents. His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has arrested and interrogated.

Then the impossible happens. A different kind of criminal — a murderer — is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside down, and every belief he's ever held shattered. The only way to save his life and the lives of his family is to uncover this criminal. But in a society that is officially paradise, it's a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer-much less a serial killer-is in their midst. Exiled from his home, with only his wife, Raisa, remaining at his side, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the MBG to find and stop a criminal that the State won't admit even exists.

Winner of the 2008 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and 2009 Thriller Award for Best First Novel.

      

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