Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver to star in Israeli director’s new thriller

Award-winning Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar is working on a new thriller titled “Useful Idiots” featuring Hollywood stars Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver, US outlets reported over the weekend.

Streep stars as a disillusioned veteran real estate journalist investigating the identity of a shadowy penthouse buyer.

A synopsis of the movie cited by the Hollywood Reporter says it revolves around “a mysterious oligarch, whose influence stretches across Manhattan and beyond – protected by a network of fixers, enablers and a brilliant young strategist. Out of her depth, Diane digs deeper into the investigation, her determination to uncover the truth revealing a web of corruption and danger at the highest levels, ensnaring Diane, her family and all those around her.”

Streep, a three-time Academy Award winner widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, is starring in a movie for the first time in over four years, with her last major role being in the 2021 political satire “Don’t Look Up.”

Weaver, herself a three-time Academy Award nominee, will join Streep on screen, though details of her character have not yet been revealed. She is best known for her action hero roles in James Cameron’s epic “Alien” and “Avatar” franchises, as well as dozens of other memorable comedies and dramas.

Cedar cowrote the script with Shachar Bar-On, a producer for “60 Minutes” on CBS. The film is being produced by independent studios Black Bear and Fifth Season.

“Useful Idiots” will be the sixth feature film for the Israeli writer and director, with his previous five all receiving critical acclaim.

He is perhaps best known for his 2007 war movie “Beaufort,” which depicted the daily life of Israeli soldiers during the 2000 pullout from southern Lebanon. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at that year’s Academy Awards.

Cedar, who is an Orthodox Jew, has directed major Hollywood stars before, with Richard Gere, Steve Buscemi and Michael Sheen all featuring in his 2016 political drama “Norman.”

In addition to film, Cedar produced and directed the 2019 drama miniseries “Our Boys,” a co-production between HBO and Keshet Studios that depicted the 2014 murder of a Palestinian boy in Jerusalem by Israelis in retaliation for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.

The series, which won 14 Ophir Awards, was labeled “antisemitic” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a characterization that Cedar described as “cynical and harmful.”

Cedar’s new film has not yet begun production and no release date has been announced.