British director Amma Asante will helm the film adaptation of David E. Hoffman’s “The Billion Dollar Spy.”

The movie, written by Ben August (“Remember”), will be produced by Walden Media and Akiva Goldsman. Greg Lessans of Weed Road Pictures will serve as executive producer and Naia Cucukov will oversee the project for Walden Media.

The story centers on Adolf G. Tolkachev, the chief designer at the USSR’s Research Institute of Radio Engineering, who handed over tens of thousands of pages of highly classified documents to the U.S. He quickly became the crown jewel of the CIA’s spy network at the end of the Cold War.

Asante’s credits include 2004’s “A Way of Life,” 2013’s “Belle,” and 2016’s “A United Kingdom,” starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. She’s also in post-production on the romantic drama “Where Hands Touch,” starring Amandla Stenberg and George MacKay. In 2017, Asante was honored with an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her contribution to film.

“We are so proud to have Amma at the helm of this prestigious project,” Walden Media president and CEO Frank Smith said. “She is an incredibly talented director who will bring her unique vision and experience to this film.”

Walden’s recent films include “Wonder,” which recently crossed $300 million globally, and the animated drama “The Star.” The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.