Paul Rudd is set to star in The Catcher Was a Spy, a WWII thriller that Ben Lewin (The Sessions) will direct, with PalmStar Media producing and financing. The script is by Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat, who adapted the Nicholas Dawidoff bestselling book. PalmStar Media’s Kevin Frakes and Mark Fasano will produce along with Animus Films’ Jim Young and Tatiana Kelly of Serena Films, and Michael Bederman. PalmStar’s Buddy Patrick will Executive Produce.

Rudd will play Moe Berg, an Ivy League grad and attorney who spoke nine languages, but that wasn’t the only reason he stood out among his baseball teammates when he spent 15 years as a journeyman player for such teams as the New York Robins and Chicago White Sox. Their biggest worry might have been hitting a curveball; Berg doubled as a top secret spy for the OSS (a forerunner for the CIA), who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. Perhaps Berg was helped in his efforts to stay under the radar by the fact his skills were not going to make anyone forget about Babe Ruth. When Berg played for the Senators, teammate Dave Harris once famously said, “Moe Berg can speak twelve languages, but can’t hit any of them!” His story was previously developed by Warner Bros as a vehicle for George Clooney and before that, both HBO and Miramax tried but struck out. [Source]