Earlier today, we brought you the news that Christopher Nolan was planning a WWII epic called Dunkirk for his next film, and that it would be based on his own original screenplay. Now, Variety has caught wind of the first bit of casting news, as they report that the director is eyeing Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance and Kenneth Branagh for the supporting roles.
In terms of leads, no one has been cast just yet, but Nolan is hoping to find some unknowns for the roles and is currently testing teens in London and hopes to have some actors locked in soon. That supporting cast certainly sounds promising though, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted once the director has his leads.
While fans are understandably disappointed that Nolan’s next film will be more grounded than what we’re used to seeing from him, especially since he’ll be working in the done to death genre that is WWII, there’s no reason to doubt that Dunkirk will be another fantastic effort from one of Hollywood’s best filmmakers.
For those unfamiliar with the project, it’s set during “the legendary evacuation of the Northern French city during WWII” and will be shooting in France on both IMAX 65mm and 65mm large format film. Furthermore, it’s already got a prime summer release date locked down, with the flick set to hit theatres on July 21st, 2017.
Clearly, this is going to be a big movie, and with Nolan at the helm and a very strong cast helping him out, we might just be looking at a WWII film on the level of Saving Private Ryan.