Renaissance man Steve Martin has signed on for a role in director Ang Lee’s upcoming Iraq War drama Billy Flynn’s Long Halftime Walk, according to Deadline. Martin, who has been largely absent from the live-action big screen since 2011’s The Big Year, joins Garrett Hedlund (Unbroken) and newcomer Joe Alwyn in the adaptation of Ben Fountain’s best-selling novel.
Lee (Life of Pi) will direct from a script by Oscar-winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire). The story revolves around Alwyn’s character, Billy Flynn, whose Bravo Company survives a harrowing battle in Iraq that happens to be caught on film. The team is brought back home by the U.S. administration and hailed as heroes, sending them on a brief promotional tour that culminates in a much-publicized appearance at halftime of a major Thanksgiving Day football game before they need to return to the warfront.
Martin will next be heard (not seen) as the voice of alien leader Captain Smek in Dreamworks Animation‘s Home. His role in Walk has not been disclosed as of yet, but rumors have him playing a Hollywood producer vying for the rights to Flynn’s life story. Flynn is set to begin production in Atlanta in April. No release date has been announced.
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