In November 2007 it was announced that Roman Polanski was to direct the film version of the novel . He and Harris would be writing the script . The cast was at first to consist of Nicolas Cage as the ghost , Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang , with Tilda Swinton as Ruth Lang and Kim Cattrall as Lang 's assistant Amelia Bly . Filming was delayed and a year later it was announced that Ewan McGregor would play the ghost instead of Cage and Olivia Williams would take over the role of Ruth Lang . The film was a French-German-British joint production , with Babelsberg Studios near Berlin having a central role and most scenes , especially those from Martha 's Vineyard , were shot in Germany . Harris was quoted as saying , " I want to be sure it 's out before Tony Blair 's own memoirs are published . " Polanski was arrested by Swiss police in September 2009 on his way to the Zurich Film Festival . Babelsberg Studios initially announced that production was put on hold . However , Polanski continued working on post-production from his house arrest in Switzerland . The film , retitled '' The Ghost Writer '' , premiered at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival on 12 February 2010
60th Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The Ghost (Harris novel)