Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman will star in the film adaptation of Florian Zeller’s award-winning play The Father, it is being reported.
The tragi-comic piece is about a man experiencing dementia, and is part of Zeller’s trilogy of plays about family (alongside The Mother and The Son). Hopkins will play the titular father, Andre, while Colman will play his daughter Anne.
The film version is expected to start shooting in the UK later this year, with Zeller himself on board to direct the piece (in what will be his directorial debut) with Christopher Hampton adapting the screenplay.
First running in France in 2012, the English adaptation of Zeller’s play first premiered at the Ustinov Studio in 2014, with the role of the father played by Kenneth Cranham. The show went on to transfer to the West End, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award and Cranham won the award for Best Actor in a Play.
It later had its American premiere in 2016, where it was nominated for Best New Play and star Frank Langella won the Tony Award for Best Actor.
A release date for the film version of The Father is to be confirmed.
Source: whatsonstage.com – Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman to star in film version of Florian Zeller’s The Father
