The Coen Brothers to Write Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's Cold War Film

The Cold War spy film being put together by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks just got a lot more interesting. Just announced a few weeks ago, the reunion of the Saving Private Ryan duo has just gotten a bit bigger with the Coen Brothers coming on to write the screenplay.

This will be another reunion of sorts as the Coens worked previously with Hanks on The Ladykillers, which turned out to be not one of their strongest efforts. There's greater potential this time, though, as the film will star Hanks as James Donovan, a prominent American attorney hired by the CIA to get behind enemy lines and negotiate the release of captured pilot Gary Powers, whose U-2 spy plane was shot down in Russia. Spielberg will direct and produce, with the Coens reworking Matt Charman's initial script. The Coens recently directed Inside Llewyn Davis and wrote the script for Angelina Jolie's Unbroken and for Gambit starring Colin Firth.

It's still unclear when Spielberg plans to fit the untitled film into his schedule. He's got a number of projects lined up including an adaptation of The BFG over at Dreamworks which may be next on his list. [THR]