Fresh off garnering strong praise for his performance in drama James White at Sundance, Christopher Abbott has booked a role in Tina Fey‘s untitled project.
The Paramount film is an adaptation of journalist Kim Barker’s wartime memoir, The Taliban Shuffle. The story recounts Barker’s experiences covering conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s said to be a dark comedy dealing with Barker’s fish-out-of-water experience and the challenges of being a woman in wartime Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Fey will produce and play the journalist, while Margot Robbie and Martin Freeman are also attached. Abbott’s role currently is being kept under wraps. Paramount had no comment.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are directing. Robert Carlock, who worked with Fey as a writer on 30 Rock, has penned the script. Ian Bryce and Lorne Michaels also are producing the film, which will begin shooting in New Mexico this month.
Abbott played the titular character in James White, the feature debut for writer-director Josh Mond of Borderline Films. The film, centering on a troubled 20-something and his cancer-ridden mother (Cynthia Nixon), was widely praised at the fest, with THR describing the project as “a distinctive portrait of anger, pain and grief that unfolds simultaneously on and under the skin.” The film won the NEXT Audience Award at the fest.
Abbott previously starred on HBO’s Girls for two seasons, and his other film roles have included A Most Violent Year and Martha Marcy May Marlene. He’s repped by WME and Parseghian Planco.
