Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper Starring in ‘Best of Enemies’

It’s all part of a package deal that has a variety of distributors and streaming services interested.

(Left) Bradley Cooper at the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' World Premiere. (Right) Christian Bale stars in director David O. Russell's 'Amsterdam.'

Preview:

Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper are attached to a new spy film.
They could end up starring in the based-on-real-life tale.
A bidding war is already under way for the book adaptation.

Having shared the screen in ‘American Hustle’, it appears that Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale are ready to reunite for a new story set in the 1970s: ‘Best of Enemies’.

And according to reporter Jeff Schneider, who broke the news, it’s one that is causing plenty of excitement among studios and streamers, who are understandably happy to have new potential projects starring big name actors floating around after months of delays because of this summer’s strikes.

What’s the story of ‘Best of Enemies’?

Bradley Cooper at the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' World Premiere.

Adapted from Gus Russo and Eric Dezenhall’s book ‘Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War’ by ‘American Hustle’s Eric Warren Singer, the story follows two Cold War spies — CIA case officer Jack Platt and KGB agent Gennady Vasilenko — who became improbable friends at a time when they should’ve been anything but.

They were both new arrivals in Washington D.C. in 1978 when their respective agencies assigned each man to seduce the other into betraying his country during the final days of the Cold War. Many years later, they helped discover the Soviet mole Robert Hanssen together and solved several other high-profile espionage mysteries. Cooper would reportedly play Platt, while Bale would play Vasilenko.

As of right now, there is no director attached, but given his previous success directing and starring in ‘A Star is Born’ and (see below) ‘Maestro’, there’s speculation that he might end up stepping behind the camera for this one also.

Several companies are hoping to snag this one, with Apple and Netflix considered the front-runners.

What does Robert De Niro have to do with the real story?

Robert De Niro as Salvo in 'About My Father.' Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.

There’s another ‘American Hustle’ connection beyond the actors and writer, as another star of the David O. Russell movie, Robert De Niro, openly condemned Gennady’s incarceration in real life after he was caught and helped a lot with his case:

The ‘Raging Bull’ star sent a Christmas card to Gennady in prison which contained a photo.

The pic was enough to impress both the prison guards and the other inmates as DeNiro was just as famous in Russia as he was in the United States. Gennady’s treatment in prison immediately improved and he even came under the protection of Russian crime boss named Slava.

What’s next for Cooper and Bale?

(L to R) Christian Bale and his wife, Sibi Blažić at the Los Angeles premiere of director David O. Russell's 'Amsterdam.'

Cooper, of course, is in the awards race again with Leonard Bernstein film ‘Maestro’, in which he plays the conducting/composing legend. It has been on limited theatrical release and will hit Netflix on December 20th.

Bale voices on the main characters in the English-language version of Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’, which was just released in theaters to impressive numbers. It earned $12.8 million in its opening weekend, becoming the first original anime production to top the domestic box office.