Ryan, Kinnear join Damon

Oscar frontrunner Amy Ryan (GONE BABY GONE) and Greg Kinnear have signed on to star alongside Matt Damon in the untitled Paul Greengrass thriller for Universal. The film is based on the book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” and follows Damon as a CIA officer searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Ryan will play a New York Times reporter investigating the claims of WMDs while Kinnear will play Damon’s fellow CIA agent. Greengrass co-wrote the script with Brian Helgeland (LA CONFIDENTIAL) based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book. Considering the success they had together on the last two BOURNE films, wouldn’t it be fair to say you’d follow Greengrass and Damon wherever they went cinematically? These guys could adapt “The Snorks” into a live-action romantic comedy and I’d be there. Ryan just wrapped shooting on THE CHANGELING for Clint Eastwood and Kinnear finished the Ricky Gervais comedy GHOST TOWN in late ’07. Damon took a break from filming after ULTIMATUM but still has the indie drama MARGARET on the way from Fox Searchlight.