Eddie Redmayne and Miles Teller Team Up With Doug Liman for High-Stakes Spy Thriller Star One
Doug Liman has tapped an unlikely A-list duo to play clashing CIA operatives thrust into a high-stakes mission.
If you thought the buddy-action formula was played out, Hollywood would like a word. The genre shows no signs of slowing down, and now Doug Liman—yes, the Doug Liman who jumped the fences with The Bourne Identity—is ready to throw another oddball duo into the mix with a new movie called Star One. And from the early details, this one is doubling down on the whole 'mismatched CIA agents forced to work together' setup.
Word is, Liman is cooking up a fact-based thriller, which will hang its story on a real-life intelligence mission that's apparently way more important than most people realize. The movie's already making some noise at the Cannes Market, shopping for distributors—and there's more than a little intrigue around who's on board to star. Let's break it down.
The Mandatory Odd-Couple Dynamic
Universal law of the buddy-cop movie: one person is a chaos agent who doesn’t play by the rules, and the other… well, they're kind of boring but keep everyone out of jail. Think Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon—that’s the template.
For Star One, the plan is to have Miles Teller playing the go-for-broke loose cannon, while Eddie Redmayne steps in as the straight-laced, cross-every-T, dot-every-I partner. If you’re quietly wondering if Redmayne’s up for action sequences, it’s worth noting that while both are better known for heavy drama, neither is really a stranger to running, dodging, or (presumably) wisecracking their way through danger.
If You're a Liman Fan, Expect More of What Works
Liman’s carved out a niche directing mismatched duos through high-stakes chaos. Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Odd couple. Edge of Tomorrow? Ditto. He does stylish action and snappy partnerships, and he seems content to stick to his strengths here. I’d expect more of the same, and frankly, there are worse approaches.
A Very Quick Cast & Crew Breakdown:
- Director: Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow)
- Screenwriter: David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill, Orphan 3, The Family Plan and its upcoming sequel)
- Penciled-in leads: Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick, The Gorge) and Eddie Redmayne (currently shooting Peacock’s Day of the Jackal Season 2)
The 'Based on a True Story' Angle
Supposedly, the movie spins around ‘the untold true story of the first intelligence star ever awarded for one of the most important yet least known missions in modern history.’ That’s Liman’s mouthful of a synopsis, and while it’s a big claim, it doesn’t actually tell us much. Expect at least a handful of “wait, that really happened?” moments embedded in the chaos.
What's Next?
No release window yet. Liman actually has another project to finish before this one gets moving. That would be Bitcoin, an upcoming thriller with Casey Affleck, Pete Davidson, and Gal Gadot. And here’s where it gets a little crunchy—Bitcoin has already been catching flak, especially for Liman’s decision to use 'pure AI' to create fake backgrounds and apparently to tweak his actors digitally. Talk about controversy magnets. That one isn’t dated yet either, so Star One could be a while.
If you want a quote from the folks behind the film, here’s your teaser, straight from the official synopsis:
'The untold true story of the first intelligence star ever awarded for one of the most important yet least known missions in modern history.'
Make of that what you will. But if mismatched spies blowing things up is your comfort food, you’ll want to keep an eye on this one.