As Ridley Scott contemplates his next project, he has attached himself to yet another one. Scott will direct and produce a Simon Mann biopic, about the former British army officer. Gerard Butler is set to star while Robert Edwards will pen the script.
Butler would play the lead role of Mann, “a former British army officer who in 2004 put together a band of mercenaries to attempt a coup against the president of Equatorial Guinea. The coup attempt was thwarted in Zimbabwe, where Mann went to pick up weapons. He spent five years in a harsh prison there before being taken to Equatorial Guinea where he was sentenced to 34 years–but spared that sentence when he received a presidential pardon in 2009.”
It is unclear when we can expect this, or if it will even get off the ground. Scott keeps attaching himself to different projects and it’s likely that some of them won’t ever come to fruition.
The director is currently looking into his Gucci biopic and a Blade Runner sequel, among other projects. So whether the Simon Mann biopic comes to be is up in the air.
We’ll definitely keep you posted on more news as it surfaces.