The veteran writer-director David Cronenberg is in negotiations to direct The Matarese Circle, a political thriller with Denzel Washington attached to star in the project based on Robert Ludlum conspiracy novel.

The 1979 book depicts two rival intelligence agents — one American, one Soviet. They find themselves working together to uncover and vanquish members of a mysterious group of criminals called the Matarese that has infiltrated the highest levels of American government.

Circle places Cronenberg in the big-budget action arena and working with the A-list crowd.  Cronenberg is known as the master of horror genre in the 1980’s and an unconventional independent auteur in the 1990s.  Now he stands out with his movies 2005’s Oscar-nominated A History of Violence and 2007’s well-received Eastern Promises.