British actor Tom Hiddleston has reportedly joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” based on the 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo.
The information was listed in the newest issue of Production Weekly — quite the source obviously this week — and then confirmed by The Wrap who says they spoke with someone “familiar with the casting.”
Hiddleston, probably best known in the U.S. for a role that hasn’t even come to the screen yet — Loki in Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” — will evidently play one of the leads. The actor came to prominence in a stage production of “Othello” alongside Ewan McGregor and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and can also be seen as Branagh’s sidekick in TV detective show “Wallander.” He’s also set to appear in Woody Allen’s upcoming France-set “Midnight In Paris.”
Last week we reported that reported that twenty-eight year old English actor Eddie Redmayne (“Savage Grace”) was cast as the film’s protagonist, Albert, by closes source to the project. DreamWorks has not confirmed this information as of yet, but Hiddleston’s reps also declined to comment — a typical move when deals are set, but perhaps not 100% in place.
While the 2007 London stage adaptation — which has evidently played to packed houses for a long time — will play a large part of the film, the book itself follows a young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War I. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend where he meets a French Lieutenant (the role we assume Hiddleston will play, the book is apparently a real tearjerker).
More casting should surface soon. Spielberg’s “War Horse” is already set for an August 10th 2011 release. Just a few months later Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” — a collaboration with Peter Jackson — will hit, on December 23, 2011.