Succession star Jeremy Strong is set to star in The Passenger, a new historical thriller to be directed by Magnus von Horn in his English-language debut. Von Horn, the Swedish-Polish filmmaker, last helmed the critically acclaimed historical psychological horror The Girl with the Needle (2024), which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film.

The screenplay for The Passenger, co-written by von Horn and Aleko Gotscheff, is adapted from Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz’s 1938 novel of the same name. The book became a UK Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller and has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Set in Nazi Germany, the story follows respected businessman Otto Silbermann, who is forced to flee Berlin after the November 1938 anti-Jewish pogroms known as Kristallnacht. As he attempts to escape with his assets, he moves from train to train while his country turns hostile and his sense of identity begins to erode.

The film is produced by Port au Prince Films and Lava Films, with Martina Valentina Baumgartner serving as executive producer.

Strong, best known for playing Kendall Roy in the HBO drama series Succession, is also attached to essay Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning, a follow-up to The Social Network. The actor received an Oscar nomination for portraying Roy Cohn in The Apprentice. He previously won an Emmy for Succession and a Tony Award for the 2024 revival of An Enemy of the People.