With Andy Serkis‘ Jungle Book directorial feature on the backburner until 2018, it looks like he may have found the project that might just fill that gap. Today Embarkment Films have sent us a press release which confirms Breathe will be his next project and will star Andrew Garfield plus Claire Foy in the film’s lead roles.
In Breathe, Garfield will star as Robin handsome, brilliant and adventurous; a man with his whole life ahead of him before he is cruelly paralysed by polio. Foy will star as Robin’s wife Diana, whose devotion and determination transcend his disability. Together they refuse to be imprisoned by his suffering, travelling the world and transforming the lives of others with their humour, courage and lust for life. A heart-warming and hilarious celebration of bravery and human possibility; a love story about living every breath as though it’s your last.
Jonathan Cavendish (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Bridget Jones’s Diary) noted ‘Andy is the perfect choice to direct Breathe. He is a visionary director with a superb take on this unusual and uplifting material. And above all, he is a superb director of actors.’
Andy Serkis commented on his involvement ‘I’m very excited by the prospect of working with Andrew. He is a remarkably gifted actor, capable of finding and expressing the deep emotions experienced by Robin, in spite of his disability.Claire is blessed with a diverse and exceptional range of work and is one of the UK’s most respected young actresses – she’s the perfect emotional foil to Andrew’s Robin and brings great strength of character to the pivotal role of Diana’
Through the decades we’ve watched films of people struggling with debilitating illness and diseases from Sessions, My Left Foot to more recently The Theory Of Everything. All films of characters many based on real people fighting live life as best as they can and against all odds do so. Could this be a potential Oscar contender? Ask Eddie Redmayne, Daniel Day Lewis it’s a possibility even at least nominated like John Hawkes, with William Nicholson (Everest, Unbroken, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Les Misérables, Gladiator) writing the script it has every chance. It has the the Oscar fodder of an inspirational love story giving it every chance.
