In June, we reported that Anton Corbijn (The American) was set to adapt John le Carré‘s novel, A Most Wanted Man.  Today, Variety reports that Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to play the lead, “a near-dead half-Chechen, half Russian man on the run [who] in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune.  A young female lawyer and private British banker become entwined in his fate and all the while, they are being watched by a covert German spy unit.”

I was impressed at how Corbijn turned the thriller-premise of The American into a quiet, meditative drama, and I’m curious to see if he’ll take the same approach with A Most Wanted Man.  Shooting is expected to begin this September in Hamburg.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of le Carré’s novel.

By Wikipedia’s count, seven John le Carré novels have been adapted into films.  An eighth, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, is on the way.  According to THR, director Anton Corbijn (The American) will bring us the ninth.  Corbijn has signed on to direct A Most Wanted Man from a screenplay by Andrew Bovell (Edge of Darkness).  The story centers on a Muslim illegal immigrant caught up in the international war on terror.  The novel is loosely based on Murat Kurnaz, who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for several years before release without charge in 2006.

The Amusement Park Films production is expected to begin shooting this winter in Hamburg.  Read the official book synopsis after the jump.

Director Anton Corbijn’s The American made decent bank at the box office in September with a $35.6 million domestic rake, and yet it currently sits at a less-than-enticing 38% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is doubtless a product of the sly Hollywood marketing machine, which sold this meditative character study as a late-summer Bourne-substitute with megastar George Clooney. Many of you may have fallen victim, but I ask those wounded souls and the newcomers alike to give The American a chance now that you’ve been properly warned. It’s neither flashy nor deeply poetic, but it refreshingly plods along to the beat of its own patient tempo in showing the day-to-day activities of a weary assassin attempting to find solitude. My review of the DVD after the jump.

Never underestimate the power of smart directing and a strong central performance to keep a movie interesting.  Anton Corbijn’s The American isn’t a film with momentum.  It’s not rushing anywhere or even setting up a clear destination.  It’s an austere, contemplative piece that holds tension despite rarely introducing an immediate threat.  Corbijn’s skilled direction is matched by a thoughtful, quiet performance from George Clooney who plays a character unlike any he’s done before.  The American is one of the more difficult films this year as it moves slowly, deliberately, and without any hand-holding.  But the result is a rewarding picture that’s refreshing after a mostly disappointing summer movie season.

With director Anton Corbijn’s (Control) The American getting released on September 1st, Focus Features has released four clips and you can check them out after the jump.  The film stars George Clooney as an aging assassin who vows the next assignment will be his last.

As I said when I posted all the new images, The American was one of those movies I was really looking forward to…but the closer it gets to release, the more I’m nervous about the film.  That’s because Focus Features isn’t doing a junket and I don’t know anyone that’s seen it.  Trust me, that isn’t a good sign.  But after watching the clips, the film looks interesting and I’m really hoping it surprises me.  Judge the footage for yourself:

Opening on September 1 is director Anton Corbijn’s (Control) The American.  Starring George Clooney as an aging assassin who vows the next assignment will be his last, The American is one of those movies I was really looking forward to…but the closer it gets to release, the more I believe it might not be good.  The reason I say this is due to the lack of screenings by Focus Features.  I’ve done this job long enough to know when a movie is good, they screen it early and often for the press to generate online buzz.  But The American is about a week away from getting released and I don’t know anyone that’s seen it and the only screening I’ve been offered is on the 30th.  As I said, that makes me nervous.

But even though it might not be getting screened, I loved Corbijn’s Control and I’m a big fan of Clooney, so I’m really hoping this film surprises me.  Also, I thought the trailer and the featurette were solid.  With The American getting released next week, we’ll all know soon enough if it’s worth checking out.  Until then, Focus has released a bunch of new images from the film, so hit the jump to check them out:

Yesterday, we showed you the slick poster for Anton Corbijn’s upcoming drama The American, which stars George Clooney as an assassin in the Italian countryside doing one last job.  Today, there’s a new trailer for the film, and sadly it is not as creative as the poster.  It makes the movie out to be a generic action film.  I prefer the first trailer, but perhaps you’ll feel differently.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.  The American hits theaters on September 1st.

Focus Features has released the first poster for Anton Corbijn’s The American and it’s an eye-catcher.  It’s got a nice 70′s-esque feel to it and I support any poster that breaks from the bland floating-heads posters we see so often.  While the poster almost makes the movie look like a vintage spy flick, The American is about an assassin (George Clooney) working one last job in Italy and begins to develop a friendship with a local priest and a romantic relationship with a local woman.  Hit the jump to check out the poster in high-resolution.  The American hits theaters on September 1^st.

Director Anton Corbijn (Control) is blogging about his upcoming film The American starring George Clooney.  The film centers on an American assassin (Clooney) in Italian countryside on his last job.  However, he soon finds himself seduced by his surroundings and tempts his fate as he steps out of the shadows by befriending a local priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and finding romance with a woman named Clara (Violante Placido).

Corbijn has posted a variety of behind-the-scenes images from the film and we’ve included them after the jump.  My favorite: Clooney’s borderline tramp-stamp.

Hit the jump for the images and the official synopsis.  The American hits theaters on September 1st.

Focus Features has debuted the first trailer for The American over on Yahoo, which wisely features star George Clooney doing shirtless situps for the ladies, and a variety of guns for the inferior gender (mine!).  Anton Corbijn (Control) directed this adaptation of the Martin Booth novel A Very Private Gentleman, which depicts an aging assassin (Clooney) who vows the next assignment will be his last.

The clip establishes a very tense atmosphere and highlights some great imagery (I love the aerial view of the serpentine road) in its 1:30 running time.  All in all, there’s plenty to look forward to with this one.  Check out the trailer after the break.

The first official image from Anton Corbijn’s The American has debuted on the film’s official Facebook page [via The Playlist].  The film stars George Clooney as an assassin traveling the Italian countryside as he seeks out his final target on what he vows will be his last assignment.

Also, the fine folks over at Just Jared have some set photos from Joe Wright’s upcoming thriller Hanna.  The film stars Cate Blanchett as a CIA agent hunting down a young girl named Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) and her ex-CIA agent father (Eric Bana) who trained his little girl to be a killer.  I know fathers sometimes have trouble finding common ground with their daughters, but coupled with Kick-Ass, I believe there has to be a better way.

Hit the jump to see the images and the official synopsis for each film.  The American hits theaters on September 1st.  Hanna hits theaters sometime in 2011.

Steve went to the American Film Market (AFM) today.  AFM is where film buyers go to pick up some of the biggest movies that are in development or already completed.  The film sellers use promo art and synopses to entice buyers.  It also enticed Steve to land some the first images and full synopsis for some of the biggest upcoming films of 2010.  We’ve got the goods for The American starring George Clooney, Eagle of the Ninth starring Channing Tatum, Greenberg starring Ben Stiller, and Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, and much more.

Looking at the images and reading the synopsis should really get you excited for these films so hit the jump and check it all out.

George Clooney continues to do no wrong.  The actor has been on a roll for the past couple of years and the one thing that I’ve come to love from the man is that he keeps on picking interesting films and working with only the best (or most promising new) directors.  The latest director to be blessed by Clooney is going to be Anton Corbijn for his new movie “The American”.  The long time famed music video director finally made his debut film with “Control” in 2007 and if you’ve seen the film, then you know why you should be excited about this one.  To find out all the details, just hit the jump.