The following update concerns a) one of our best living actors and b) John le Carré. If you asked many with reasonable taste, they’d say it’s best to pay attention.

For his Snowtown follow-up, director Justin Kurzel has already secured rights to Our Kind of Traitor, a (what else?) espionage tale from the legendary John le Carré. (A man whose cinematic revival, even minus this, continues after Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man.) Though that’s a splendid plan on its own, Traitor only grows in stature when Hossein Amini (Drive) has been tapped to script the picture and, now, Mads Mikkelson is a big candidate for its starring role. Jump the gun by adding those four together, see the potential, and read on.

TheWrap tell us he’s only been offered one of Traitor‘s starring roles — the most likely choice being Dima, a Russian millionaire whose actions leave big effects on the story’s innocent stars. As it were, le Carré‘s novel mostly revolves around Perry and Gail, two lovers vacationing on Antigua who end up aiding and abetting Dima, a man very much intent on selling out old compatriots in exchange for a spot with British Intelligence. Less-than-noble as is, but even more conflicting when his actions put their lives in danger, leading them on a path normally reserved for a certain character Mikkelson battled several years back.

Speaking of, actually, Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain have also been mentioned in conjunction with Our Kind of Traitor, more plausibly than not for those central positions. Good and reasonable, but, like our main point of focus, they’re only names on a list of choices; that doesn’t mean they’re exempt (quite the opposite), but should only be seen as such.

Like the majority of those who read the news, there’s still a hope that Kurzel can prove to find a cast which is, if not exactly what we see here, still just as eye-opening. Dare to keep that going.

Would you be happy to see Our Kind of Traitor come together with these people involved?