Just a couple of weeks ago, the first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated, and likely Meryl Streep Oscar vehicle, “The Iron Lady” hit the interwebs and it was a little…odd. In addition to being much more lightweight than we expected a film about Margaret Thatcher to be, the most curious aspect was that it was scored to Clint Mansell‘s “Welcome To Lunar Industries” from his excellent score for “Moon.” Well, turns it out it wasn’t just a lazy decision on behalf of whoever cut the trailer.
According to those in know who have reached out to In Contention, Mansell will be tuning up “The Iron Lady.” It’s an interesting choice for both the filmmakers and the composer alike. Certainly, Mansell’s work is unique, often moving in directions counter to the usual Hollywood score path, with inspiration coming from unlikely sources. And while it might seem an odd decision for Mansell, who is likely best known for his iconic work for Darren Aronofsky on films like “The Fountain,” “Requiem For A Dream” and of course, last year’s “Black Swan,” he’s also done more regular Hollywood work on stuff like “Faster” and “Definitely, Maybe” and providing the backdrop for a Streep film is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.
Joining Streep in the picture is an extensive cast of British acting vets including: Jim Broadbent as Thatcher’s husband Denis; “Hot Fuzz” actress Olivia Colman as daughter Carol; rising star Alexandra Roach as the younger Thatcher; “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” star Anthony Head will play Geoffrey Howe, Thatcher’s longest-serving Cabinet colleague; former Secretary of State For Defence John Nott will be represented by Angus Wright (”The Bank Job”); Michael Heseltine, Thatcher’s frequent rival, will be played by familiar face Richard E. Grant; Julian Wadham (”The English Patient”) will take on the late Foreign Secretary, Francis Pym; Roger Allam (“Speed Racer,” “Tamara Drewe”) will play spin doctor Gordon Reece and Shakespeare veteran Michael Pennington (”Return Of The Jedi”) will play Michael Foot, leader of the Labour party.
The script is by “Brick Lane” writer Abi Morgan, although we’re told that Michael Hirst, creator of “The Tudors,” and writer of the two Shekhar Kapur/Cate Blanchett “Elizabeth” films, did a polish before the film started lensing. The biggest wildcard is that the film will be helmed by “Mamma Mia” director Phyllida Lloyd, but Streep worked with her on that ABBA-centric movie so we suppose they hit it off. The film hits theaters on December 16th.