It’s been 16 years since Gary Oldman stepped behind the camera to direct the blistering Nil By Mouth. Since then, he’s kept busy starring in the Harry Potter films and the Dark Knight trilogy. Now he’s looking to call the shots once more for Flying Horse, a biopic of pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge.
Though he’s not quite a household name, Muybridge is well known among devotees of photographic techniques, since becoming famous for his pictures of Yosemite captured after he emmigrated to the States as a young man.
He’s best known, however, for pushing the boundaries of work capturing animal movement years before motion pictures were invented. His life took a turn for the dramatic with the love affair between Muybridge’s wife, Flora, and theatre critic Harry Larkyns, who the photographer shot and killed. The jury acquitted him on the grounds of justifiable homicide.
According to The Wrap, Oldman has written the script and is after Ralph Fiennes to play Muybridge and Benedict Cumberbatch as Larkyns, though neither man is officially attached yet. The director wants to kick off shooting early next year, assuming he can get the financing together. Acting-wise, Oldman will next show up in corporate espionage thriller Paranoia, Russian drama Child 44 and the remake of RoboCop. He’s also part of the cast for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.