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Colin Farrell may be the most famous and well-paid actor who has yet to appear in a bona-fide hit (though in all likelihood Minority Report will change that). The young actor, who first made his mark in Joel Schumacher's indie hit Tigerland, received $5 million to sign on for The Farm, a thriller that is loosely based on the story of Harold Nicholson, a CIA agent who was convicted of spying for the Russian government.

Farrell has the lead in the Spyglass production, which will be distributed by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. Al Pacino and Bridget Moynihan will costar. The story details are fairly sketchy at this point, but the plot will revolve around a young CIA operative who is training at "the Farm", a secret facility in Virginia where the brightest and best are groomed to work in China. Farrell's character suspects that his mentor (Pacino) and other instructors may be double-agents for the Chinese government. The original script was penned by Roger Towne (The Natural), with Kurt Wimmer (1999's The Thomas Crown Affair) and Mitch Glazer (Scrooged) handling rewrites. Director Roger Donaldson has had some experience with intricate tales of suspense, as he directed No Way Out and Thirteen Days.

As far as the true story on which this film is apparently based, Nicholson says he turned to selling secrets to the Russians in an attempt to obtain money to care for his children after the dissolution of his marriage. The highest-ranking CIA officer ever to be caught stealing, he sold national security secrets to Moscow for a period of two-and-a-half years, during which time he was paid approximately $300,000. He is currently serving over 23 years in prison, and as part of his sentence will never see any profits for sale of his story for any books or movies.

Expect the Disney machine to give The Farm strong marketing support that will likely reach a broad demographic, thanks to the involvement of the youthful Farrell and the outstanding reputation and past track record of Pacino. An excellent jumping-off point for comparison is surely Spy Game, which had a similar pairing in Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, though Pitt is more than a decade older than the up-and-coming Irish actor. Assuming that Minority Report establishes Farrell as a hot Hollywood commodity, The Farm has all the makings of a decent-sized hit. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Vital statistics for The Recruit Main Cast Colin Farrell, Al Pacino, Bridget Moynahan Supporting Cast Gabriel Macht, Kenneth Mitchell, Eugene Lipniski, Brian Rhodes Director Roger Donaldson Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer, Akiva Goldsman, Roger Towne, Mitch Glazer Distributor Touchstone Pictures Rating PG-13 Running Time 115 minutes Screen Count 2,376 Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for The Recruit
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Minority Report	6/21/02	35.68	37.09	3001	11889.00	11889.0	132.01	137.25	3.70
Sum of All Fears, The	5/31/02	31.18	32.41	3183	9795.00	9795.0	118.47	123.17	3.80
Spy Game	11/23/01	21.69	23.14	2770	7830.00	8037.9	62.34	66.53	2.46
Clear and Present Danger	8/5/94	20.35	30.07	2378	12115.00	17222.3	122.01	180.31	4.23
Enemy of The State	11/20/98	20.04	25.76	2393	8374.00	10355.9	111.54	143.40	5.57
Conspiracy Theory	8/8/97	19.31	25.36	2806	6882.00	8696.2	76.12	99.99	3.94
Patriot Games	6/5/92	18.51	26.89	2366	7823.00	10933.3	82.88	120.42	4.48
Hunt for Red October, The	3/2/90	17.16	24.51	1225	14008.00	19252.7	120.71	172.48	7.03
Jackal, The	11/14/97	15.16	19.91	2193	6913.00	8735.4	54.93	72.16	3.62
Ronin	9/25/98	12.70	16.32	2487	5107.00	6315.7	41.61	53.49	3.28
Sneakers	9/11/92	10.13	14.71	1731	5852.00	8178.7	50.58	73.49	4.99