Thanks to Bourne, the spy-fi genre is alive and well and every studio is on the lookout for a franchise of their own -- even Disney. Variety reports that super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer (along with the Mouse) has purchased the screen rights to David Ignatius' spy thriller, The Increment. Ignatius is an associate editor for The Washington Post and Increment will be his seventh novel. An adaptation of his 2007 book, Body of Lies, has already finished shooting with Ridley Scott at the helm, and Leonardo DiCaprio starring as a CIA agent hot on the tail of a terrorist.

The Increment centers on a "shadowy, elite group of British undercover intelligence operatives who are conscripted by a CIA agent to help a weapons scientist defect from Iran." Early reviews of the manuscript praised the story, citing the wealth of facts about the CIA and the international intelligence community. But insiders were shocked that Disney would want the property considering the amount of 'hot button' issues in the book, like Islamic politics and an invasion of Iran.

Ignatius' novel has not even been published yet, so it's very early days for the adaptation -- and leaving plenty of time for Disney to water down the story. In the meantime, look for Body of Lies to arrive in theaters on October 8th, 2008.

I'll admit I was surprised as the next person to hear about the possibility of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie that was not being made by Martin Scorsese. Variety has reported that DiCaprio is in talks to star in Body of Lies for Ridley Scott. The film is based on the novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, with a story that focuses on a CIA agent who's sent to Amman to work with Jordan's intelligence force in helping to track down an Al Qaeda leader who is planning an attack against America. The script is being adapted by William Monahan who also worked on The Departed, so it looks like DiCaprio could have at least one familiar face around on the film. Monahan has also worked for Scott before as a writer for Kingdom of Heaven and is working with DiCaprio on an American remake of Confessions of Pain.

DiCaprio is still negotiating his deal for the project, since he has a pretty packed schedule to try to fit this in. We have already had word that DiCaprio was re-uniting with his Titanic co-star Kate Winslet in the Sam Mendes film Revolutionary Road, and talks are still in progress for Scorsese and DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street (among their other project ideas.) Luckily Scott is still scouting locations in the US and in the Middle East, so Leo has some time to figure out his schedule for the next year or so.

Given the success of Syriana and the ubiquity of the Middle East in the news, it's no surprise that big studios have recently acquired a pair of projects set in that region. Oddly, Ridley Scott's fingerprints (as well as those of novelist David Ignatius) are all over both of them. The first - described by Variety as "a high priority for [Paramount]" - is The Invisible World, which Scott will direct. The film is based on a treatment by Ignatius which grew into Dana Stevens' screenplay and may prove to be a bit touchy, given that its story revolves around the kidnapping of a female journalist in Iraq.

The second project is in Warner Brothers' hands, and is at a much earlier stage of development. The studio has acquired the rights to Penetration, a novel by Ignatius about "a CIA operative's attempt to track a high-ranking terrorist in Jordan." The hope at Warners is that Scott will direct the film, once a screenplay is completed.