Though the Bond films he appeared in may not have all been up to snuff, I’ve always found Pierce Brosnan to be a supremely engaging, and surprisingly versatile, screen presence, which is why his recent flurry of activity — topped by his deliciously double-sided turn in Roman Polanski‘s The Ghost Writer — has been a rather welcome one in my own eyes. Even in mediocre efforts like The Greatest or Remember Me, Brosnan has been making a point lately of reminding us how good he can be.

This makes the news of Roger Donaldson‘s helming of November Man all the more satisfying. The adaptation of Bill Granger‘s espionage novel has long been a passion project for Brosnan — as well as his production label, Irish DreamTime — and Donaldson‘s now-confirmed involvement will afford the actor-producer the opportunity to finally realize this long-developing interest of his. Also of note here: Brosnan‘s main co-star will be the ever-busy Dominic Cooper. [THR]

The film “tells the tale of an ex-CIA operative (Brosnan) who is brought back on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil (Cooper) in a deadly game involving high-level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.” Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek teamed up on the adapted screenplay, and filming is scheduled to begin in October in Berlin.

November Man sounds like an obvious step up from Donaldson‘s previous — and reportedly disastrous — Seeking Justice, though with impressive things like The Bank Job on his resumé, there’s enough reason to believe that he’ll be in good-enough shape for this one. His other upcoming project — the globe-hopping stock-market thriller, Cities — features a strong cast of Kirsten Dunst, Orlando Bloom, and the aforementioned Cooper, and should do nicely to prepare him for the likely multiple-country scope of November Man.

What do you think about Donaldson’s hiring? Will Brosnan and Cooper make a good on-screen duo?