Philip Seymour Hoffman Boards Child 44

Philip Seymour Hoffman is the latest name to join the cast of the ensemble action drama Child 44, Deadline reports. He’ll star opposite Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman and Gary Oldman in the adaptation of Tom Rob’s 2008 novel, officially described as follows:

“There is no crime.”

Stalin’s Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals.

But in this society, millions do live in fear . . . of the State. Death is a whisper away. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty-owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time-sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic than Leo Demidov.

A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents. His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has arrested and interrogated.

Then the impossible happens. A different kind of criminal-a murderer-is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside down, and every belief he’s ever held shattered. The only way to save his life and the lives of his family is to uncover this criminal. But in a society that is officially paradise, it’s a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer-much less a serial killer-is in their midst. Exiled from his home, with only his wife, Raisa, remaining at his side, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the MBG to find and stop a criminal that the State won’t admit even exists.

Hoffman starred last year in both A Late Quartet and The Master, the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination. Later this year, fans can catch Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee in Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Child 44 will directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) and will be produced by Michael Schaefer, Greg Shapiro and Ridley Scott. Maria Cestone, Molly Conners, Sarah Johnson Redlich and Christopher Woodrow will executive produce.

(Photo Credit: Joseph Marzullo / WENN.com)