Gary Oldman to play Winston Churchill in WWII drama Darkest Hour

Gary Oldman at the 2012 Empire Awards

by Owen Williams |
Published on

As previously reported, director Joe Wright is reuniting with his Atonement studio Working Title for the WWII drama Darkest Hour. Now it looks like he's found his Winston Churchill, with Gary Oldman in talks to play the bulldog British Prime Minister.

Darkest Hour is set in 1940, when Churchill was in his first days as PM. With Britain under serious threat from Germany and the tide looking likely to turn further, Churchill was under pressure to strike a deal with Hitler that would see Britain effectively become a Third Reich puppet stake. He wrestled with the decision and ultimately decided... well, you know how it turned out.

The film has been a passion project of The Theory Of Everything writer Anthony McCarten for some time. As well as providing the screenplay he's also producing, along with Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and Lisa Bruce.

Shooting starts in July.

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