Joe Wright and WWII are very good for each other. His two best films, Atonement and Darkest Hour, involved the war and the rest of his movies just aren’t as good. This is good news for the adaptation of In the Garden of Beasts as the director is reportedly in final talks to make the movie after it bounced around due to selloffs before StudioCanal picked it up. Another guy who is really good at making WWII films, Tom Hanks, is set to produce the movie.
The film, which is based on a true story, follows the life of William Dodd, the first U.S. ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. As a professor from Chicago, he’s excited about a new adventure but, as you can guess, things aren’t actually want anyone thinks. Despite sending home increasingly concerned updates to the U.S., he’s pretty much ignored as the horrors of the Third Reich begin to unfold in front of him. It sounds like perfect casting for Tom Hanks, but the actor is not attached to star in the film yet.
It’ll be pretty hard for this movie to suck given the WWII track record of both its director and producer and the Oscar-bait subject matter. Even if Hanks doesn’t star, I can’t see this turning out poorly.
Joe Wright to Direct World War II Drama ‘In the Garden of Beasts’ (EXCLUSIVE) [Variety]
