Edgar Ramirez and Pedro Pascal have signed to star in Olivier Assayas’s upcoming political thriller Wasp Network, based on Fernando Morais’ book The Last Soldiers Of The Cold War about a group of Cuban spies sent to the US in the 1990s to infiltrate anti-Castro terror groups based in Florida.

Rodrigo Teixeira’s San Paulo-based RT Features, which is co-producing the feature alongside Assayas’ long-time collaborator Charles Gillibert at Paris-based CG Cinema, announced the casting news.

RT’s Lourenço Sant’Anna and Sophie Mas serve as executive producers. IMR International will be introducing the film to foreign buyers in Cannes, with CAA Media Finance handling the US rights.

Wasp Network is the true story of Cuban spies based in the US during the 1990s and reveals the tentacles of a terrorist network based in Florida with ramifications in Central America and with the consent of the US government.

Ramirez has won praise recently for his performance in the Ryan Murphy-produced FX series The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and has since signed to appear opposite Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in Disney’s upcoming film Jungle Cruise.

Pascal is best known internationally for his iconic role as Javier Peña in the hit Netflix series Narcos and also recently starred as Whiskey in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Last month, he signed to star opposite Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig in the Wonder Woman sequel.

Ramirez is represented by CAA and Impression Entertainment. Pascal is represented by WME and Untitled Entertainment.

RT Features recent credits include Luca Guadagnino’s Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name. It is also in production on Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, the filmmaker’s follow-up to The Witch that stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe with A24 and New Regency, and in post-production on James Gray’s Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt for Fox.

The IMR Cannes slate also features Scott Z. Burns’ The Torture Report and David Robert Mitchell’s Under The Silver Lake with Andrew Garfield and Riley Keough, which will receive its world premiere in competition in Cannes.

CG Cinema previously produced Assayas’ Clouds Of Sils Maria as well as Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang and Mia Hansen-Love’s Eden.

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