Fresh off his well-received, Matthew Goode-led drama "The Burning Man," helmer Jonathan Teplitzky has set up his biggest project yet with the adaptation of Eric Lomax's prisoner-of-war retribution tale "The Railway Man" starring Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman (who replaced a suddenly busy Rachel Weisz) and Jeremy Irvine ("War Horse"). Production has now kicked off in Scotland with two more familiar faces in Stellan Skarsgård and Hiroyuki Sanada ("The Last Samurai") rounding out the film's cast.
Adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce ("24 Hour Party People"), the film will follow the true story of Lomax (to be played by both Irvine and Firth), a Scottish second lieutenant who was captured by the Japanese in Singapore during the war and shipped off to a camp in Thailand, where he suffered terrible tortures and was forced to help build the infamous bridge over the River Kwai. Years later, Lomax meets a woman on a train (Kidman) who is determined to rid Eric of his demons and recruits a wartime colleague who organises for Eric to confront his tormentor, Nagase.
Skarsgård will play Kidman's colleague while Sanada will portray Firth's former tormentor, with the production set to lens in Thailand and Australia. Considering the stirring material and award-season friendly cast, we're expecting this one to take Teplitzky places. Could we see it before the end of the year? [Variety/FilmInk]
