After a couple of detours in the land of James Bond, filmmaker Sam Mendes delighted audiences in 2019 with the release of his one-take war film, “1917,” proving the director hasn’t lost a step after dabbling in the superspy franchise. Now, it appears Mendes is ready to begin work on his upcoming drama, “Empire of Light.”
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According to Deadline, Sam Mendes is beginning to round out the cast of his next film, “Empire of Light,” and has brought in folks such as Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, and Tanya Moodie for the feature. These actors will star opposite the already-announced Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward in the new drama. The exact plot of “Empire of Light” is being kept a secret, but the film is said to be a love story that centers on an old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s.
Obviously, Colin Firth is the most prominent name of the group. The man has been nominated for two Oscars and won one of them for his work in “The King’s Speech.” But Toby Jones, Crystale Clarke, and Tanya Moodie are no slouches either. Jones has appeared in films such as “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and various Marvel Studios features. Clark recently appeared in “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” and has shown up in “Black Mirror” and “Ordeal by Innocence.” As for Moodie, she’s been seen in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” as well as series such as “Motherland” and “A Discovery of Witches.”
Again, not much else is known about the film, but we do know that Roger Deakins is once again teaming up with Mendes to handle the cinematography. Also of note, “Empire of Light” marks the first film that Mendes is writing solo, as his previous screenwriting on “1917” occurred alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns. And we also know Searchlight Pictures is hoping to have “Empire of Light” arrive in theaters sometime in fall 2022.
