Way back in October, we brought you news of Peter Weir's newest film "The Way Back," based on the true story of a group of soldiers who made a daring escape from a Soviet gulag. Now Variety reports that he has nearly landed his cast, a mix of acting veterans and soon-to-be-huge newcomers, as Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan are in talks to join the film.
Farrell will play a tough, tattooed Russian, Harris an American, and Sturgess will play a young Polish inmate. Ronan will play a young Russian on the run who meets up with the fugitives.
Everyone except for Harris is really going to have to brush up on their foreign accent skills -- or they will all speak with British accents, and we'll have to use our imaginations.
The film begins shooting in Bulgaria in March, from an original script penned by Weir. It is the first film he's has directed since "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" in 2003. It's certainly a fascinating story, and Weir has landed himself a cast that had a pretty buzz-worthy 2008 -- would anyone be surprised if this becomes an Oscar contender in a year or so?
Will you follow this group to the Soviet Gulag? Let us know below.