“Small Axe: Lover’s Rock” and “Top Boy” breakout Micheal Ward is set to star alongside Olivia Colman in the new Sam Mendes-directed feature “Empire of Light,” Deadline reports. Produced by Searchlight, the film will mark Mendes’ first film since the one-take World War One drama “1917” and also marks his first solo script as a writer. Production is expected to start in fall 2022.
The plot details are still mostly unknown, but according to the above, the film is said to be a love story set in and around a beautiful old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s. Mendes will also reunite with his “1917” and “Skyfall” cinematographer, the legendary Roger Deakins. Previous to that, he was probably best known for helming acclaimed dramas such as “Revolutionary Road,” “Road to Perdition,” and “American Beauty,” so “Empire of Light” sounds like something of a return to the more familiar for Mendes, after a streak of large-scale action.
READ MORE: Director Steve McQueen & Cast Discuss ‘Lover’s Rock’: “An Image of Freedom” [NYFF]
And what a cast to do so with. According to the piece, Mendes took his time in finding a co-star for Colman, meeting several actors before Ward impressed Mendes and execs at a table read. Micheal Ward most recently starred in the second part of Steve McQueen’s feature anthology series “Small Axe” with the film “Lovers Rock,” playing Franklyn Cooper, who meets and falls for Martha Trenton (played by Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) at a reggae house party, also in 1980s England at a reggae house party in London. Ward also recently starred in the resurgent series Top Boy for Netflix, where he plays one of the lead roles as Jamie, a young and ruthless gang leader, and is currently shooting the next season.