Bridge of Spies may have been made in 2015, but in fact, it was not the firsr time that someone had tried to pitch the true story. According to director Steven Spielberg, during a press release for the movie, Gregory Peck actually came after the story in 1965. In that version, Alec Guinness had agreed to play Rudolf Ivanovich Abel while Peck would have played James B. Donovan and Stirling Silliphant would write the script. However, MGM declined to make the movie at the time as 1965 was in the midst of the Cold War where tensions were high. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was reluctant to get into the politics of the story. Stay tuned!