Colin Firth is no stranger to bringing historical stories to life; he even won an Oscar for one of them with The King's Speech. So you can see the appeal of reality, and he's on to star in Benjamin's Crossing.
Pat O'Connor (who worked with Firth for 1987's A Month In The Country) is directing the story of real-life Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin, who is forced to flee his Parisian home in 1940 as the Nazi invasion reaches the city. He meets Lisa Fittko, who has been helping refugees cross the Pyrenees to relative safety in Spain. Though he's not exactly fit to make the journey, she reluctantly agrees to bring him along, and an epic, daring adventure begins...
The script comes from Jay Parini and Devon Jersild, adapting Parini's eponymous novel. "Jay and Devon have written a beautiful script, which the producers are honored to support, with Pat O’Connor at the helm," say Carl and Sally Jo Effenson, who are using their production companies to back the film. "The worldwide refugee crisis makes Benjamin’s plight as timely now as it was during World War II. It is a great, untold and truly heroic story that must be told." Filming should kick off this autumn.
Firth will be on our screens (somehow and spoiler alert!) for Kingsman: The Golden Circle on 22 September and stars in boating drama The Mercy, due 27 October.