This guy, not the other one.

The news comes from Coming Soon

Variety is reporting that Steven Spielberg is seriously considering directing a movie about fictional secret agent Matt Helm, created by author Donald Hamilton. The film was developed for several years by DreamWorks before the studio left it behind at Paramount Pictures, which owns the rights.

Spielberg’s representatives told the trade that he is attached to produce, but it’s unclear if he’s going to direct. Spielberg is reportedly excited about the project again after the rewrite that Paul Attanasio delivered last week.

As Spielberg and Stacey Snider near the closing of their financing through Reliance and their new deal with Disney, they would like nothing more than to have those partners be part of Spielberg’s next picture. But Paramount isn’t obligated to make that deal, and it’s unclear whether the studio will step up to Spielberg’s traditionally rich deal terms.

Matt Helm is based on a series of 27 novels about a government agent whose mission is to take down enemy agents. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are producing.

If all goes well, we might finally see the cold as I.C.E. (Intellegence Counter Espionage) Spy Smasher taking down KGB and rogues instead of the Dean Martin James Bond satire we all know and love. Don’t get me wrong. Dean Martin was fun, but in no way, shape or form was he a former OSS man working for the CIA. Sorry.

Will Paramount part with the property? Who knows…