Rupert Everett and Colin Firth are to star in Oscar Wilde biopic The Happy Prince, it has been confirmed.
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The King’s Speech actor will portray the legendary Irish writer’s friend and confidant Reginald “Reggie” Turner, with Rupert Everett lined up for the role of the legendary playwright. Everett will also write the script and direct the movie.
The Happy Prince – which will also feature Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson – tells the story of Wilde’s final days as he looks back on the disasters of his life with his dry humour and characteristic wit, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Everett is making his directorial debut with the film, which is planned to start shooting in 2013. He starred in adaptations of Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) and An Ideal Husband (1999), the latter alongside Firth.
Firth has also signed up to star as flamboyant actor and playwright Noel Coward in new comedy drama movie Mad Dogs and Englishmen, which tells the story of Coward’s two weeks at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1955, where he performed in front of huge crowds.
The Vegas run proved to be such a success that a number of Hollywood stars, including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, turned out to see Coward in action.
The fortnight stint also helped to revive his career, which had gone downhill after the war when two of his musicals, Pacific 1860 and Ace of Clubs, flopped at the box office.
