Given that she scored an Oscar nomination and plenty of acclaim for playing crusading lawyer Gareth Peirce in Jim Sheridan’s excellent drama In The Name Of The Father, it’s not too surprising that Emma Thompson would consider doing it again. But though we’ve had to wait nearly 20 years for it to happen, Thompson is once again attached to appear as Peirce, this time for The Secret Evidence.
The story will trot across the globe between London and the Middle East, focusing on a young British couple mistakenly swallowed up by the war on terror, who need Peirce’s help to get one of them out of prison. But their troubles don’t end there, as the young woman attempting to win her boyfriend’s freedom is targeted for harassment by the British Secret Service.
Screen Daily reports that Nicholas Racz will direct the film and co-wrote the script with Cerie Bullivant. The co-writer is the key to the concept, as Bullivant was held under house arrest for two years in Blighty after he was suspected of involvement in terrorism. The case was never proved and he got legal help from Peirce.
J Todd Harris, who produced The Kids Are All Right, is now drumming up the cash to get the movie made, with plans to shoot it later this year. Thompson has most recently worked on true-life tale Effie, which she also wrote. She’ll also be heard as the voice of Queen Elinor in Pixar’s Brave, which is out on August 17.