Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale Spy Movie Best of Enemies Gets Distributor After Bidding War


Best of Enemies, a new spy thriller starring Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper, has landed at Amazon and MGM Studios following a major bidding war.

Per Deadline, the Cooper and Bale-starring Best of Enemies has found a distributor in Amazon and MGM Studios. The deal comes after an intense bidding war with seven different studios, with Amazon and Warner Bros. being the final two contenders.

Best of Enemies will get a theatrical release, though a date has not yet been set.

What do we know about Best of Enemies?

Based on Eric Dezenhall and Gus Russo’s Best of Enemies: The Last Great Spy Story of the Cold War novel published in 2018, the upcoming movie will see Cooper play a CIA agent named Jack Platt while Bale is playing the KGB’s Gennady Vasilenko. Vasilenko and Platt were both spies during the Cold War who were tasked with trying to get one another to betray their own country; however, they ended up developing an unlikely, seemingly impossible friendship with one another.

It’s possible that Cooper may direct Best of Enemies, though that has not been confirmed at this time. Cooper recently helmed the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, which he also stars in and is considered to be a major contender in the upcoming awards season. Maestro is currently playing in select theaters before it hits Netflix on December 20, 2023.

Eric Warren Singer is writing the script for Best of Enemies, while Charles Roven is producing the movie. Bale, Cooper, Singer, and Roven all worked together on 2013’s American Hustle, which was directed by David O. Russell. 

Singer also co-wrote the screenplay for 2022’s Top: Gun Maverick. Madison Weireter and Ryan Sanak also serve as producers.

Best of Enemies does not yet have a release date. Following its theatrical run, the movie is expected to land on Amazon Prime Video.