Sure, he may be a prim-and-proper British gentleman, but it seems clear Colin Firth wants to break out of that ghetto. While he ultimately flirted with but turned down the dark drama “Stoker,” he will turn to the wrong side of the law for the upcoming “Gambit.” And now, he’s going to take the revenge route as “The Railway Man,” in which Firth would play Eric Lomax, a real-life army officer who suffered at the hands of Japanese soldiers during World War II, only to seek revenge decades later.
Shooting begins this February with Jonathan Teplitzky taking the reigns as director, coming off the upcoming buzzed-about Australian dramedy “Burning Man.” The script, from Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, is described by Lionsgate UK CEO Zygi Kamasa as an “epic tale of love and redemption,” but it really sounds like Firth is just going to be going around killing fools. The project is currently out to buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Firth has got quite the busy dance card, even for a recent Academy Award winner, though he remains mostly untethered to high-profile gigs like Danny Boyle‘s heist film “Trance,” which he passed on, and the long-gestating redo of “My Fair Lady.” Meanwhile, he’s slated to star alongside Emily Blunt in the dark comedy “Arthur Newman, Golf Pro” and may appear in the next directorial effort from Gary Oldman. That’s a good amount of gigs to ensure he doesn’t ever have to do “The King’s Speech II: Speech Harder.”