Update: Reps for Gemma Arterton have confirmed she will not be starring in “Capa.”
In the works for a quite a few years now, you might have lost track of where we’re at in terms of a biopic on war photographer Robert Capa. Way, way back in 2010, Gemma Arterton said that she was going to star in a movie to be directed by Michael Mann, but then last year at the Marrakech International Film Festival, the actress clarified with us the status of her film, and revealed that there is more than one movie in the works.
“There’s two versions: ‘Waiting for Robert Capa’ which is Michael Mann’s and my version which is just called ‘Capa,’ ” says Arterton. “It’s now being directed by Paul Andrew Williams who directed ‘Song for Marion.’ The original screenplay was by Menno Meyjes… We’re in the process of casting our Capa, and I hope it happens because it’s such a great story. And I hope we do it before Michael Mann! I’m like, ‘Quick, hurry up!’ because obviously ours would be a lower budget.”
That was in December, and now it looks like she has found a co-star. Shortlist recently caught up with Tom Hiddleston who revealed he’ll be taking the title role in “Capa.” “I plan to go to the places he lived, those places he visited, read books about him, study his photographs and, crucially, learn how he took them,” he said of the research process he plans to undergo for the movie. There’s no word yet on exact plot details, but the movie will likely focus on the brief but intense romance between fellow photographer Gerda Taro and Robert Capa, until the former was killed at the Battle Of Brunnete. Taro was reportedly the love of Capa’s life as he never married and was found with only her photo in his wallet at the time of his death. Either way, Capa is a compelling figure and Hiddleston finds him nothing short of a hero.
“I look at [Capa’s] life and see it in heroic terms. A Hungarian kicked out of Hungary for writing against Fascism, he moved to Germany where he was kicked out for being Jewish, then he moved to France and from there began a life-long commitment to make a stand against forces of fascism,” Hiddleston told the magazine.
No word yet on when production might begin but with the two leads locked down, it seems to finally being heading in front of cameras sooner rather than later. As for Mann’s proposed project, it’s not on his radar at the moment as he’s busy prepping his cyber thriller with Chris Hemsworth to shoot next.
