'House of Flying Daggers' Director Zhang Yimou to Helm Spy Thriller 'The Parsifal Mosaic'

When Universal picked up the rights to the library of novels by The Bourne Identity author, Robert Ludlum, there was some minor talk of using some of them to help build the next Bourne movie. That didn't end up happening, and The Bourne Legacy proceeded ahead to continue the franchise. But Universal is still moving forward with a Ludlum adaptation, and they've got House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou to direct it.

According to THR, Yimou will make his English language debut and first major studio effort by directing The Parsifal Mosaic. Yimou previously helmed The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale, martial arts flick Hero with Jet Li, and also directed A Simple Noodle Story which was a Chinese remake of the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple. Basically he has touched on a number of different genres and it will be interesting to see how he handles the world of international espionage.

Produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer with David Self providing the screenplay, The Parsifal Mosaic centers on Michael Havelock, a U.S. intelligence officer who witnesses the murder of his KGB double-agent girlfriend by his own agency. Years after quitting the spy game he discovers his girlfriend alive in Rome, and sets off to find her and the truth, drawing the attention of U.S. and Russian assassins.