Rachel Weisz In Talks To Star Opposite Colin Firth In Donald Crowhurst Biopic

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Weisz (The Light Between Oceans) is in talks to star opposite Colin Firth in director James Marsh’s untitled Donald Crowhurst biopic. The story is based on the true story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his attempt to win the first round of the World Yacht Race in 1968. The film is produced by Blueprint Pictures’ Pete Czernin and Graham Broadbent with Scott Z. Burns, who wrote the script. Also on board as producers are Nicolas Mauvernay and Jacques Perrin of Galatee. The project was developed with Christine Langan from BBC Films, which recently enjoyed its 25th anniversary, and Studio Canal, which also co-finances. Studio Canal is distributing in its own territories and handling international sales.  Shooting is set to begin in the spring.

Blueprint partners Pete Czernin and Graham Broadbent are on a roll thanks to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Lone Scherfig’s The Riot Club and the upcoming The Outcast, starring Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay.

Deadline previously revealed exclusively that Colin Firth was boarding director Marsh’s follow-up to the Academy Award-winning Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything.

Studio Canal is coming off the back of its most successful year to date, with the likes of Liam Neeson-starrer Non-Stop, The Imitation Game, Shaun The Sheep and, most spectacularly, the David Heyman-produced Paddington, with a worldwide cume of $250 million and counting.

Weisz, who is repped by Independent Talent Group, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and CAA, has a number of projects in the pipelines, including Derek Cianfrance’s The Light Between Oceans, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Early Years and Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster.