Back in the distant mists of time that was April of this year, we brought word that Sam Mendes would be following 1917 with a romantic drama called Empire Of Light and immediately approved of at least part of the title. Back then, Olivia Colman was the only person in the cast, but those ranks have since swelled to include the likes of Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, Tanya Moodie and Micheal Ward.
Unlike previous outings, Mendes has a solo writing credit on Empire, which is being kept largely under wraps, plot-wise, but is described as a love story set in and around a beautiful old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s.
Mendes has Roger Deakins aboard as cinematographer and the cameras should be rolling early next year for an autumn 2022 release date.