Diane Kruger, Eric Bana Join Espionage Thriller 'The Operative'

Yuval Adler will direct, with Black Bear Pictures financing and Bloom shopping the film internationally, starting in Berlin.


Diane Kruger and Eric Bana are set to star in the espionage thriller The Operative, to be helmed by Bethlehem director Yuval Adler.


Black Bear Pictures is financing the indie, and Bloom is handling international sales, starting next week at the Berlin Film Festival. The Operative portrays a rogue spy (Kruger) recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran, only to become entangled in a complex triangle with her handler, played by Bana, and her subject.


Kruger recently starred in In the Fade, and has other film credits that include National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Unknown, and FX’s The Bridge. Bana's credits include Munich, Chopper, Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, Star Trek, Troy, Funny People, and the upcoming spring 2018 release of The Forgiven.


The screenplay for The Operative is penned by Adler and adapted from the Israeli best-seller The English Teacher, by former Israeli intelligence officer Yiftach Reicher Atir. Spiro Films’ Eitan Mansuri, Archer Gray’s Anne Carey and Match Factory Production’s Michael Weber and Viola Fügen will produce.


Teddy Schwarzman will executive produce, and Le Pacte’s Jean Labadie is co-producing the film.


Endeavor Content will handle U.S. sales. Adler is represented by WME and Novo; Kruger is represented by UTA and Untitled Entertainment; and Bana is represented by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.