Colin Firth boards World War 2 drama The Railway Man

Colin Firth will star in World War 2 drama The Railway Man , which is currently being offered to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , the film "is based on former British army officer Eric Lomax’s best-selling account of his torture by the Japanese during the construction of the “death railway” during World War II and his mission decades later to seek revenge on his tormentor."

Jonathan Teplitzky will direct, with shooting expected to kick off in September. The production will film on location in the UK, Thailand and Australia.

Teplitzky's Burning Man , starring Matthew Goode, was shown in Toronto yesterday.

Firth has recently wrapped shooting the Coen brothers-scripted Gambit remake.

He'll next be seen in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , which opens on 16 September 2011.

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.