A new Robert Ludlum adaptation is upon is. No longer limited to the character of Jason Bourne, Hollywood has come knocking at the door of the author’s 1979 novel, “The Matarese Circle.”

Director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) will be undertaking the epic, possible franchise. He’s brought Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise along with him.

The Hollywood Reporter describes the plot as such: “The ‘Matarese’ storyline follows two decades-long arch-enemies who are forced into a distrustful collaboration against a wide-reaching political conspiracy orchestrated by a mysterious organization called the Matarese.

Ludlum drew inspiration from David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission in the 1970s. But the screenwriters have updated the timeframe from the Cold War to a contemporary setting.”

The film has been scripted by Wanted writers, Derek Haas & Michael Brandt, along with Cronenberg.

It’s extremely interesting to me to witness Cronenberg’s complete career about-face over the past few years. He used to relegate himself strictly to the task of visceral horror maestro, but has branched out seemingly out of nowhere with A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. I find those latter two films stale and lacking, but it’s cool to see a director try something different. He had a way of haunting with disturbing images in things like Videodrome and eXistenZ. Without question, this will be his most commercial film to-date. I’m sure his past two deviations were the only way he could possibly have won the gig. Without them, it would’ve been akin to giving David Lynch the reigns to Jurassic Park, as Laura Dern once suggested.

The star-power of Cruise and Washington is monumental and it has a chance to bring Cruise closer to the top he’s slowly been climbing back to. I’m curious to see how Cronenberg handles an action-oriented film in what could prove to be another step toward reinvention.

To show you just how bizarre this leap is, here’s the trailer for eXistenZ: