It has been seventeen years since Gary Oldman dropped his feature length directorial debut and cult fave “Nil By Mouth,” but he hasn’t yet followed it up with anything. Not that he’s been short of ideas. Back in 2011, he said he wanted to team up Colin Firth for an unnamed remake, while in early 2012 he said he had a project about a sex addict he wanted to direct. Well, the good news is that Oldman does have a new directorial effort cooking, and the surprising part is that it’s none of those.
Instead, it’s a biopic of Eadweard Muybridge called “Flying Horse,” and even more, he’s seeking his “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” co-star Benedict Cumberbatch and his ‘Harry Potter‘ pal Ralph Fiennes to star. Penned by Oldman, the movie would tell the story of the photographer instrumental in helping to develop motion pictures. But the movie will focus on the more tabloid part of his life, with Muybridge murdering a theater critic who had an affair with his wife and fathered a child in the process. Scandal!
If all goes to plan, Fiennes would take the role of Muybridge, Oldman the smaller role of his attorney and Cumberbatch as the adulterous Harry Larkyns. Scheduling and all that fun stuff needs to be worked out, but the aim is to start shooting in early 2014 (which is also when Cumberbatch is due on the set of Guillermo del Toro‘s “Crimson Peak“).
But it’s exciting news that Oldman is getting back behind the camera, and for a story that inspired an opera by Philip Glass, entitled “The Photographer.” Take a listen to it below. [The Wrap]