Albert Finney, Michael Gambon and Brian Cox, three British thesps that have each portrayed Sir Winston Churchill through the years – the latter will step into the shoes of the great British Bulldog for “ticking-clock thriller” Churchill later this year, but he won’t be the only actor to do so.
Gary Oldman, star of The Dark Knight Trilogy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, will take point as Britain’s inspired leader for Darkest Hour, Joe Wright’s forthcoming biopic that’s set to chronicle the formative years of Churchill’s Prime Ministership. Now, we have our first look at Oldman in the star role, cigar in hand, ready to confront the war.
Also starring Ben Mendelsohn (King George VI), John Hurt (Neville Chamberlain), Kristin Scott Thomas (Clementine Churchill) and Lily James (Elizabeth Nel), Darkest Hour gets its name from a harrowing period in World War II when the British Empire was left facing Nazi Germany on its tod. By 1940, France had fallen to the Nazi invasion and the Soviet Union was back-pedalling out of Europe, thereby leaving Churchill to spearhead the war effort against Axis Powers in mainland Europe.
“Darkest Hour is about a visionary leader who stood firm in the face of tremendous pressure to abandon his unique point of view on the world,” explains Focus Features boss Peter Kujawski, “so it is fitting that his story will be told by these visionary filmmakers.”
Gary Oldman will brace for our Darkest Hour when Joe Wright’s character portrait hits these shores on November 24, 2017. It’ll then storm across the pond in time for a UK release on December 29, 2017.
