Colin Firth Joins Ealing's Dorian Gray Alongside Ben Barnes Source: The Hollywood Reporter
We here at Empire have long suspected that Colin Firth has some kind of Picture Of Dorian Gray deal going on. Seriously, look at the man – he’s 47 but doesn’t seem to have aged a day in at least the last decade.
Well, all speculation aside, the great man now has, quite literally, a Picture Of Dorian Gray deal going on, as he’s just signed on to star alongside Ben Barnes in Dorian Gray, the new Ealing Studios’ film of the classic Oscar Wilde horror tale about a man who makes a Faustian pact to stay forever young, while his portrait ages accordingly.
Barnes, fresh from Prince Caspian (and, at 26, another blighter who looks like he has an enchanted picture hanging somewhere in his attic), will play the title character, while Firth will play Lord Henry Wooton, an aristocrat who exerts a corrupting influence on the hedonistic Gray.
For Firth and Barnes, making an Ealing picture is not a new experience – both men appear in the resurrected studio’s forthcoming comedy, Easy Virtue, while Firth also starred in the St. Trinian’s reboot.
Oliver Parker, who directed St. Trinian’s, is currently calling the shots on the new Gray, which started filming this week.
(The last time Gray was portrayed on the big screen, of course, was in 2003's The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, when Stuart Townsend played him and was quite the best thing about the entire movie.)
Ah my sister is looking foward to this as she fancies Ben Barnes like crazy and this role could be a very interesting move for him. Colin Firth is quite a good actor, he's in very poplaur films and this could be his greatest yet. I'm glad that they are using Brittish people, I've read the book and it should only be born and bred. Great Casting, hope for more! ... Read More
Ah my sister is looking foward to this as she fancies Ben Barnes like crazy and this role could be a very interesting move for him. Colin Firth is quite a good actor, he's in very poplaur films and this could be his greatest yet. I'm glad that they are using Brittish people, I've read the book and it should only be born and bred. Great Casting, hope for more! ... Read More
Classic British book with a good British cast, and not one sodding ogre or wizard to be seen. THIS is the kind of material British films SHOULD be using.(Can you tell I'm not a fan of Harry Potter?) ... Read More
Sounds like something that could actually be a good, commercial Brit film!
(plus its a horror I can take my girlfriend to because Colin Firth's in it : ) ... Read More
