The old saying goes that you should never work with children or animals on screen, but Willem Dafoe, who scored an Oscar nomination for starring alongside kids in The Florida Project, is risking the other, landing the lead in dog-sledding adventure film Togo.
Point Break remake director Ericson Core is handling this one for Disney, with the Mouse House aiming for the film to be one of the earliest available on its upcoming streaming service.
With Tom Flynn writing the script, Togo will focus on two key figures in the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, in which dog sled teams relayed to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the Alaskan town of Nome from an epidemic.
One dog, Balto, became famous at the time (and had his story told in a 1995 animated adventure), but another, the titular Togo, travelled the most dangerous part of the run with his owner, Gunnar Kaasen (Dafoe's role). The streaming service is currently aiming to launch later next year.
Dafoe is working on Dee Rees' The Last Thing He Wanted and has a key role in Aquaman, swimming into cinemas on 14 December.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.