Branagh, Ifans embark on “boat” journey
Five years after his hugely popular directorial debut Love, Actually [+see also:
trailer
film profile], writer/director Richard Curtis is ready to roll on his next project. Titled The Boat That Rocked, the film stars British actors Kenneth Branagh and Rhys Ifans.
The film deals with the 1970s phenomenon of pirate radio DJs broadcasting illegally off the coast of the UK from boats equipped with high power transmitters. The film also stars American actress January Jones as a fan who visits the boat and gets romantically involved with Ifans, who happens to be her boyfriend’s mate.
Jones was seen in a miniscule role in Love, Actually. Since then, her credits include The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, We Are Marshall and the TV dramas Mad Men and Law & Order.
Ifans shot into prominence as Hugh Grant’s unkempt housemate in Notting Hill, written by Curtis. He was recently in Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and is in three forthcoming projects – Mr. Nobody, The Restraint of Beasts and The Informers. Branagh will be seen in Bryan Singer’s upcoming Valkyrie, which deals with a plot to assassinate Hitler during the World War 2.
Curtis recently co-wrote Anthony Minghella’s forthcoming The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency with the director. The film is based on Alexander McCall Smith’s bestselling novel.
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan-Jones and Curtis are producing The Boat That Rocked for Working Title Films, while Universal Pictures hold worldwide distribution rights. Principal photography begins in London on March 3.
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