Debuting at the SXSW Film Festival this year is Atomic Blonde. Directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2), the film is an adaptation of Antony Johnston and Sam Hart’s 2012 graphic novel, The Coldest City. The project had actually been going under that title, but the change was announced today by . The action thriller stars Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road) as MI6 superspy ‘Lorraine Broughton’, who is thrust into Cold War-era Berlin on a deadly mission.
It’s SXSW debut will fall on Sunday, March 12th at the Paramount Theater, a full four and a half months ahead of its summer release date. The picture, which will be distributed by Focus Features, is slated to arrive in theaters nationwide on July 28th, 2017. Here’s a lengthier synopsis of the graphic novel…
The story takes place in Berlin, on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the shifting of superpower alliances. Lorraine Broughton, a top-level spy for MI6, is dispatched to Berlin to take down a ruthless espionage ring that has just killed an undercover agent for reasons unknown. She is ordered to cooperate with Berlin station chief David Percival, and the two form an uneasy alliance, unleashing their full arsenal of skills in pursuing a threat that jeopardizes the West’s entire intelligence operation.
The film’s impressive cast includes James McAvoy as ‘David Percival’, Toby Jones as ‘Gray’, Eddie Marsan as ‘Spyglass’, Sofia Boutella, and John Goodman. Roland Moller, Daniel Bernhardt, Johannes Haukuer Johannesson, Sam Hargrave, and James Faulkner also appear. The graphic novel was adapted to the screen by Kurt Johnstad (300, 300: Rise of an Empire).
Theron as a killer British superspy sent to retrieve sensitive information from a volatile area that just murdered one of her fellow agents? That’s pure classic James Bond territory. Hell, it’s the plot to half of the Bond films from the 1980s. I have not had the pleasure of reading the graphic novel, which had a follow-up (The Coldest Winter) published last year. Still, with this cast and David Leitch at the helm, Atomic Blonde is an automatic must-see film in 2017.
