Last month, 20th Century Fox emerged bloodied but victorious in the battle for the rights to make Mark Millar’s latest comic adaptation The Secret Service, with** Kick-Ass** director Matthew Vaughn in the big chair. No casting was announced at the time, but that has now changed, with Colin Firth in talks to star.
The man who scored an Oscar for his dramatic work in The King’s Speech has proved adept at comedy, but hasn’t really shown much interest in comic book movies before. Still, the pedigree of this one, along with the chance to work with Vaughn, has him lured. As does, we suspect, the chance to conquer another genre.
Firth is set to play Jack, a suave, sophisticated, old school spy who decides that his rough-and-ready, street-smart nephew might just be what the agency needs to deal with a celebrity kidnap crime. Uncle Jack therefore aims to train him up, My Fair Lady-style. The filmmakers had been trying to lock down regular Vaughn collaborator Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the part of the nephew, Gary, but he’s too busy to take it on.
Vaughn wrote the script with Jane Goldman and it’ll shoot this year for a November 14, 2014 release. A hat tip here to Latino Review for breaking the first word on Firth’s casting when it was still lurking in the realms of rumour territory.
It appears that Millar time isn't the only gig Firth is up for today. Deadline reports that he’s also in talks to star opposite Emma Stone inWoody Allen’s latest, untitled film, set to shoot this summer in the South of France.
For more from Millar on Secret Service and other projects, take a listen to our Podcast interview with the man himself...