Steven Spielberg Begins Principal Photography On Untitled Cold War Spy Thriller Starring Tom Hanks

Three-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg has begun principal photography on an untitled Cold War spy thriller starring two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks (“Forrest Gump,” “Philadelphia”).

The production, which also stars Tony Award winner Mark Rylance (“Intimacy,” “The Other Boleyn Girl”), Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan (“Gone Baby Gone,” “Win Win”) and Academy Award nominee Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors”), will shoot on location in New York and Berlin.

Production in New York was possible due to support from state and local film agencies, and in Berlin, through the support of several film funds.

The film is the true story of James Donovan, an attorney who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible mission to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot.

20th Century Fox is co-financing the film with DreamWorks in association with Participant Media, and will distribute internationally. Disney will handle domestic distribution, while DreamWorks’ partner, Reliance, will oversee distribution in India.

In addition to directing, Spielberg will produce the film with Marc Platt (“Drive”) and Kristie Macosko Krieger (“Lincoln”). The executive producers are Adam Somner (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) and Daniel Lupi (“Her”).

The screenplay is by three-time Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men”) and Matt Charman based on a pitch by Charman.

The film will be released in U.S. theaters October 16, 2015.