Netflix has recruited some major international actors to star in their adaptation of Munich — not at all related to the Steven Spielberg film. Watchmen star Jeremy Irons and 1917 actor George McKay are set to star in Netflix’s Munich, a feature adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller, a spy thriller set in Europe at the brink of World War II.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Irons, George McKay, and rising German star Jannis Niehwöhner (Netflix’s Mute) have signed on to star in Netflix’s Munich, a feature adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller — which sets it apart from Steven Spielberg’s identically named 2005 film Munich, based on the 1984 book Vengeance by George Jonas.

Per THR, Netflix’s Munich is a spy thriller “set in fall 1938 as Europe stands on the brink of World War II. As Adolf Hilter prepares to invade Czechoslovakia, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Irons) is desperate to find a peaceful solution. British civil servant Hugh Legat (McKay) and German diplomat Paul von Hartmann (Niehwöhner), travel to Munich for an emergency conference. As they see if war can be averted — and at what cost — the two old friends find themselves at the center of a political plot, with their own lives in danger.”

The confusing title that will inevitably make people think of an acclaimed Spielberg film aside, Netflix’s Munich is a promising international feature, with a British-German cast that also Liv Lisa Fries (Babylon Berlin), Erin Doherty (The Crown), Sandra Hüller (Toni Erdmann), August Diehl (A Hidden Life), Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey), and Marc Limpach (Bad Banks). Martin Wuttke, who seems to be pigeonholed as Hitler after playing the role in Quentin Tarrantino’s Inglourious Basterds, will be playing the Nazi leader again in the Netflix film.

Christian Schwochow (The Crown) directs from a script by Ben Power (The Hollow Crown), who adapted Harris’ book. The film is produced by The Crown producer Andrew Eaton through Turbine Studios and is one of the prestige European films that Netflix has commissioned since bringing former STX executive David Kosse on board for its international film division.

“Munich is emblematic of the kind of movie the group has been looking to make since I joined,” Kosse told THR. “They are European-set, multilingual films that feature a strong cast, strong directors, intellectual property that has some value across territories. We are looking to create movies of a certain scale out of Europe that can travel.”

Munich is currently shooting for a planned 2021 release.

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