The life of controversial club owner and porn magnate Paul Raymond – the self-styled King Of Soho – is already being brought to the screen by Michael Winterbottom, with Steve Coogan as Raymond. But that looks set to face a challenge (in more than one sense) from Raymond’s son, Howard, who appears to have secured the services of one Tom Hiddleston to play Paul in his take on the man’s life.

Yes, while Howard Raymond has been looking into legal options, including trademarking the name The King Of Soho (which is also the title of Winterbottom’s film), he’s moving ahead on his own version of the story. And all being well, he wants to start making the movie next year.

"You can’t imagine how delighted I am by this — chuffed to bits," Raymond tells The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay. "We’ve waited a long time to get the right person and in Tom we finally have. It’s a difficult role, not because he is playing my father but because he is in every scene in the film."

Nothing is confirmed yet, but it would certainly be an interesting new challenge for the man who raised an army simply by being a charming blighter. Last seen causing trouble for The Avengers, Hiddleston has been busy working on The Hollow Crown, which will bring plays including Henry V and VI to the BBC. He’s also set to appear in Jim Jarmusch’s vampire tale Only Lovers Left Alive and Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s Black Wings Has My Angel. We'd suggest a job-sharing scheme where Coogan takes over the job as Loki in Thor 2, but we don't want to be besieged by Loki's army...