According to Variety, The Muppets director James Bobin has signed on to direct a WWII spy film called Agent Zigzag, based on Ben McIntyre’s book of the same name. The true tale centers around Eddie Chapman, a criminal who became a successful double agent by winning the trust of the Germans as he reported their secrets back to MI5. More info below.
Tom Hanks is producing, giving him a return to the World War II setting he loves to explore. (See: Saving Private Ryan, “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific”, etc.) The biggest question about Agent Zigzag, however, isn’t found within the story itself, but in whether or not director Bobin will delay the Muppets sequel in order to make this his next project. We’re not sure which one is up first, but I’m sure Disney is hoping they can get another Muppet movie off the ground as smoothly and quickly as possible, especially considering c0-writer and star Jason Segel’s recent exit from the franchise.
Bobin also has the insanely-long-gestating project A Confederacy of Dunces on his plate, and there’s no word what order he’ll plan on tackling these projects. The Playlist says that Prince of Persia director Mike Newell was once lined up to direct Agent Zigzag, so I’d count Bobin’s involvement as a massive improvement. Let’s hope he can actually get this one going soon and it doesn’t languish in development hell.
