Mark Strong, erstwhile Floating Head of this parish and guest of this past weekend’s Jameson Empire Awards.
The film is set in 1961 and follows the real-life events around the siege of an Irish UN battalion by 3,000 Congolese troops under the command of French and Belgian mercenaries paid by big mining companies. Dornan is set as the Irish commander, Patrick Quinlan, with Guillaume Canet in charge of the French contingent. There’s no word yet on whom Strong will play.
Netflix nabbed the rights to distribute the film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, signalling the streaming service’s ever-increasing push into original content. “The story of how Pat Quinlan led his troops against an overwhelming force without losing a single man is one of the great stories of the 20th century, and we are proud to be working with such a talented and committed team to bring it to life,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. “This film will be an amazing addition to our global original films initiative.”
Strong, who was last seen in Kingsman: The Secret Service (and seems likely to return when/if director Matthew Vaughn puts the sequel together), will next be seen in sci-fi thriller Ad Inexplorata and Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest comedy, Grimsby, which recently moved to February 12 next year.