Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall Begin Production On Untitled International Suspense Thriller For Focus Features

Production begins next week in the U.K. on Focus Features and Working Title Films’ untitled international suspense thriller starring Eric Bana (of Focus’ Hanna) and Golden Globe Award nominee Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Town) for director John Crowley (Boy A). The original screenplay is by Steven Knight, Academy Award nominee for Dirty Pretty Things and BIFA Award nominee for Focus’ Eastern Promises.

Rounding out the cast are British Independent Film Award nominee Riz Ahmed (Four Lions); Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris); Olivier Award nominee Kenneth Cranham (An Inspector Calls); BAFTA Award nominee Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy); in his fifth film for Focus, Ciarán Hinds (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy); and Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee Julia Stiles (Dexter). Adriano Goldman (Focus’ Jane Eyre) is the feature’s cinematographer; Jim Clay and Natalie Ward, both of Focus’ The Debt, are the production designer and costume designer, respectively.

Mr. Bevan and Mr. Fellner are producing the film with Chris Clark (The Guard), and Working Title’s Liza Chasin is executive producer. Focus holds worldwide rights to the feature, and will commence overseas sales at the Cannes International Film Festival in May.

In the thriller, two ex-lovers, Martin (to be played by Mr. Bana) and Claudia (Ms. Hall), find their loyalties tested and their lives at risk when they are joined together on the defense team in a terrorism trial.

Working Title Films, co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner since 1992, is one of the world’s leading film production companies. Founded in 1983, Working Title has made nearly 100 films that have grossed over $5 billion worldwide. Its films have won 6 Academy Awards, 30 BAFTA Awards, and prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin International Film Festivals. The company’s 2012 slate includes Baltasar Kormákur’s Contraband, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale, which recently posted the company’s all-time biggest domestic box office opening weekend; Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway; and Joe Wright’s epic love story Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Johnson.

Upcoming Focus releases include Moonrise Kingdom, the new feature from Wes Anderson that will world-premiere as the opening-night film of the 2012 Cannes International Film Festival, starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Jason Schwartzman; Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley; Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s ParaNorman, the new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA; Jamie Travis’ contemporary comedy For a Good Time, Call…, starring Ari Graynor and Lauren Anne Miller; the historical tale Hyde Park on Hudson, directed by Roger Michell and starring Academy Award nominees Bill Murray and Laura Linney; and the aforementioned Anna Karenina.