 Rosamund Pike |
Irish producer Frank Mannion and debut Irish director Edward McHenry have begun production on a new feature film ‘Jackboots On Whitehall’ in London. The film’s stellar ensemble cast includes Rosamund Pike (Pride & Prejudice), Richard E Grant (Withnail & I) and Timothy Spall (The Last Samurai, Harry Potter).
‘Jackboots On Whitehall’ is a comedy spoof set in the Second World War, imagining what would have happened had the Germans won the Battle of Britain but were ultimately defeated by the Scots. The film is the feature directorial debut of Sligo-born Edward McHenry, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Rory McHenry.
Edward McHenry graduated in Fine Art from Exeter College Oxford in June 2006. ‘Jackboots on Whitehall’ was the winner of the inaugural Swipe Films Screenplay Scholarship, a bursary set up by Swipe to encourage students to write scripts during their summer holidays.
Swipe Films’ Frank Mannion said of the project “It's one of the funniest scripts I have read in a long time with a delightful twist at the end. It's bound to amuse audiences with its revisionist view of history. It is a tribute to the script's originality and to Edward's directorial vision that we have assembled such a starry cast lending us their extraordinary vocal and comedic talents."
Using GI Joe-type action figures, the $2m movie will be in the vein of 'Team America' - minus the strings.
Rosamund Pike, best known for her role as Jane Bennett in ‘Pride & Prejudice’, heads the voice cast alongside Richard E. Grant. Timothy Spall assumes the role of Winston Churchill with Scottish thesp Alan Cumming (X-Men, Circle of Friends) playing his German adversary Adolf Hitler.
Supporting cast features Sanjeev Bhaskar (The Kumars) alongside Brit actor Tom Wilkinson (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Full Monty) playing German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and Richard O’Brien (Rocky Horror Picture Show) as SS commander Heinrich Himmler.
Mannion previously produced the indie hit, ‘Grand Theft Parsons’ and is currently in post-production on the anticipated supernatural thriller, ‘Reverb’, starring Leo Gregory and Irish actress, Eva Birthistle, featuring new tracks from Prodigy, Bloc Party and the double Grammy winning Irish music producer, Jack Knife Lee.
Swipe Films Distribution currently has the Trekkie documentary, ‘Earthlings’, in release, coinciding with Star Trek's 40th year anniversary and is about to release ‘Frankie’ starring Diane Kruger.
