EXCLUSIVE: The Vampire Diaries and xXx: Return Of Xander Cage star Nina Dobrev has joined Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) in action-thriller The Bricklayer, which will start next month in Europe.
Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2 filmmaker Renny Harlin is directing the movie, which The Expendables outfit Millennium Media is producing with Gerard Butler after both teamed up with Eckhart on the lucrative Has Fallen franchise. Millennium is selling at the upcoming virtual EFM.
In The Bricklayer, someone is blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the agency is responsible. As the world begins to unite against the U.S., the CIA must lure its most brilliant – and rebellious – operative out of retirement, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy.
The film is set to shoot at Millennium’s Nu Boyana Greece studio and its Nu Boyana Bulgaria facility. Screenplay comes from Hanna Weg (Septembers of Shiraz) and Matt Johnson (Into the Blue).
Producers are G-Base’s Alan Siegel, Butler and Danielle Robinson; Eclectic Pictures’ Heidi Jo Markel; and Millennium Media’s Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger, Yariv Lerner and Rob Van Norden. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Tanner Mobley from Millennium are executive producers.
Bulgarian-born Canadian actress Dobrev is best known for her roles in the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Degrassi: The Next Generation, and Summit’s Perks of Being a Wallflower. Recent pics include Netflix’s Love Hard and Universal’s Redeeming Love while upcoming are Netflix’s The Out-Law and comedy The Reunion.
Eckhart is in production as former President Gerald Ford in Showtime’s The First Lady, which will mark the actor’s biggest small-screen role to date.
Dobrev is repped by CAA, Lighthouse Management & Media, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman.