Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) is set to star in The Last Race, an unofficial follow-up to 1982’s Academy Award Best Picture winner, Chariots of Fire. Fiennes will play Scottish runner Eric Liddell, who won a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. The film will follow Liddell during the latter years of his life, in which he who worked as a missionary in China after his victory and died in a Japanese internment camp. Xiao Dou (Dangerous Liaisons) and Jesse Kove (As Night Comes) will also star in the movie.
Fiennes has kept busy but stayed primarily out of the spotlight since starring in 1999’s Shakespeare in Love. His notable roles have included the Shakespeare adaptation The Merchant of Venice, the comedy Running with Scissors, and 2014’s Hercules.
The Last Race will shoot in China and be released in the country under Alibaba Pictures, pending approval from the country’s censorship board, as depictions of religion are a very sensitive subject in the country.
Chinese-made films have done well recently when they add western stars to their cast. The epic Dragon Blade starring Jackie Chan (Kung Fu Panda 2) and John Cusack (Love & Mercy) broke box-office records for the country.
The Last Race is currently set to be released in the U.S. some time in 2016.
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