June 17, 2017 - 12:12 AMT
Ben Kingsley to play Nazi war criminal in “Operation Finale”

MGM has cast Ben Kingsley to play Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in “Operation Finale” opposite Oscar Isaac, Variety said.

Shooting will begin this fall in Argentina with Chris Weitz to direct the thriller about the capture of Eichmann, who was one of the major architects of the Holocaust. Eichmann organized the transport of Jews from countries all over Europe to concentration camps, where an estimated 6 million died.

When World War II was ending, Eichmann fled to his home country of Austria and then moved to Argentina. Eichmann was captured in Argentina in 1960 by the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Following a trial in Israel, he was found guilty of war crimes and hanged in 1962 at the age of 56.

Isaac has been cast as Peter Malkin, the Mossad operative who led a group of Israeli spies searching for Eichmann. He’s also producing along with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger under their Automatik company and Inspire Entertainment’s Jason Spire. Matt Charman, who wrote “Bridge of Spies,” is executive producing.

MGM launched development of the project when it acquired the script by Matthew Orton in 2015.

Kingsley starred opposite Brad Pitt in Netflix’s “War Machine” and will be seen next in “Backstabbing for Beginners.”

Berger was nominated for an Oscar for “La La Land.” The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.