Last year, director Tomas Alfredson worked his magic and brought to audiences one of, if not the best, vampire film in years. Let the Right One In was praised (for good reason) and much loved around these parts. The film didn’t just breathe new life into a genre which has recently lagged under the weight of the teen vampire craze, it did so while also introducing a talented visionary. Now it looks as though said man will be putting his stamp on a another genre which, to me, is a little stale: the spy thriller.

Empire has news that Alfredson has signed on to direct his first English language film and it happens to be an adaptation of a John le Carré spy novel: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This isn’t the first time this particular story has seen life beyond the page. In the late 70s the BBC produced a version starring the one and only Alec Guinness and in the late 80s there was a radio play version of the story but this will be the first film adaptation and so far, it’s shaping up quite nicely. Aside from Alfredson the production also has Oscar nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan on board.

So what’s it all about? Empire explains it as:

Set in cold war London, Lisbon and behind the Iron Curtain, le Carré’s novel centers on the hunt to uncover the Russian spy at the heart of British Intelligence. The hunter, MI6 agent George Smiley, is a careworn but brilliant spy whose implacable drive leads him out of retirement and into the middle of a labyrinthine conspiracy.

There’s a whole lot more information on the novel on the wiki.

Spies aren’t usually my thing but this production has my full attention.