Ang Lee has found the star for his next film. Newcomer Joe Alwyn is in talks to play the titular role in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8 and Chinese distribution company Bona Film Group are onboard alongside Tristar and Film4.
Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for writing “Slumdog Millionaire,” adapted the book for Film4 and The Ink Factory. The film will be produced by Marc Platt, Ink Factory’s Stephen Cornwell, Rhodri Thomas and Simon Cornwell, and Lee.
Filming is set for April.
The dark satire follows 19-year-old Texas-born infantryman Billy Lynn and his fellow U.S. servicemen who survive a firefight in Iraq in 2005. The Bush administration brings the veterans home for a victory lap that leads them to the Dallas Cowboys’ football stadium where they’re honored during the team’s Thanksgiving halftime show before they return to war in Iraq.
Sources liken newcomer Alwyn to Jeremy Irvine, who was discovered by Steven Spielberg for “War Horse.” WME expects to sign the young actor once Independent closes the deal.
