According to Variety, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Buscemi, and Timothy Dalton are in advanced negotiations to star in The Death Of Stalin, a “scathing comedy” from In The Loop and Veep creator Armando Iannucci.
Adapted from a French graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, the film follows the infighting among the Soviet officials seeking supreme power in the days leading up to Stalin’s funeral. Tambor would play Georgy Malenkov, Buscemi would portray Nikita Khrushchev, and Dalton would round out the triad as Georgy Zhukov, a guy who apparently could gauge Stalin’s mood by how he smoked his pipe. Also in negotiations is Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace, Oblivion), who may finally give big furry hats some much-needed sex appeal.
The script was written by Iannucci, David Schneider (who wrote for Alan Partridge back in the ’90s), and Ian Martin (who contributed to In The Loop and Veep), so expect a lot of vicious rhetoric to accompany the exaggerated accents. The film will start shooting in June, with a goal to premiere at Cannes next year.