Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace in Talks for 'Child 44'

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Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace are in negotiations to team up to star in Child 44, a Soviet-era thriller being produced by Ridley Scott and Michael Costigan via the Scott Free banner.

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Daniel Espinosa is directing the thriller, which is set during the 1950s and follows a member of the Soviet police who, while investigating a series of child murders, finds himself the target of his own government’s suspicions.

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Hardy would play the Soviet officer, while Rapace would play his wife, who pretends to be a doting partner but is concealing many thoughts and feelings.

Richard Price wrote the script adapting the Tom Rob Smith novel.

Hardy (CAA, Sloane Offer, the U.K.’s United Agents) starred as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises; Rapace (UTA, Magnolia Entertainment) was the lead in Scott’s giant sci-fi movie Prometheus.

The two will first work together on Fox Searchlight’s drama Animal Rescue, which is due to shoot in March, before segueing to Child 44, which is eyeing a start in Budapest toward the end of May.