He’s directed Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds… And, now Daniel Espinosa could be working with English actor Tom Hardy.

The 35-year-old half-Chilean, half-Swedish filmmaker, who helmed the action thriller Safe House, will be directing the film adaptation of Tom Rob Smith’s novel Child 44. And, Hardy is in negations with Espinosa and the film’s producers to star in the film.

Hardy will reportedly star in Child 44 after completing shooting on Animal Rescue with another Swede with Latin roots, Noomi Rapace. He’ll shoot Animal Rescue in March, and then move on to work on Espinosa’s film.

Child 44 takes place in Stalin’s Soviet Union, and Hardy will portray a security officer and war hero who believes in the Soviet system and the law. That’s until he uncovers the existence of a mass murderer, and he’s thwarted by the same system he’s sworn to serve because they have no interest in acknowledging that murders are taking place in a country perpetuating the myth of a crime-free utopia. The book is part of a trilogy.