Film will be set in the golden era of British athletics…
It has been confirmed that Daniel Radcliffe is set to portray British politician and former track and field star Sebastian Coe in ‘Gold,’ an athletics drama that follows the world-famous rivalry between Coe and fellow athlete Steve Ovett in the years leading up to the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
The film reunites Radcliffe with James Watkins, his director on last year’s supernatural box office hit ‘The Woman in Black.’ Watkins will be directing the athletics drama from a screenplay by Oscar winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’) and Will Davies (‘How to Train Your Dragon’).
Based on the acclaimed book ‘The Perfect Distance’ by Pat Butcher, the film tells the story of the gladiatorial rivalry between world-record breaking athletes Coe and Ovett. Driven hard by their families, two young men from very different backgrounds rewrote the record books and kept the whole nation – and then the world – gripped by their battle. Butcher will serve as a consultant on the feature.
Production is scheduled for April next year with filming to take place in the UK and Russia. The role of Ovett has yet to be cast.