Gary Oldman to play Winston Churchill in new Joe Wright film Darkest Hour

September 6th 2016, 4:38pm

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Wow! Gary Oldman will be playing none other than Winston Churchill in the new film DARKEST HOUR from director Joe Wright (PAN).

This won't be the first time Gary Oldman has been cast cast as an historical figure (having played Lee Harvey Oslward in JFK, Beethoven in IMMORTAL BELOVED, and Sid Vicious in SID AND NANCY), and he's always knocked it out of the park each time. Not to mention he's the definitive James Gordon as far as I'm concerned. So there's no reason not to think he won't rock a great performance as Ol' Winnie.

And while Joe Wright's last film was a bit of a dud (even if that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" song in the middle of PAN was at least interesting in an absurd wtf way), I still think he can be a great director given the right material (HANNA is amazing, and whatever flaws ANNA KARENINA had it was at least visually arresting). So I'm excited to see what he brings to the table with this one.

Here's the synopsis:

Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.

This seems like it has all the right ingredients to be a great Oscar movie: an amazing actor playing a larger-than-life historical figure with an epic, true life story. However, I just hope that it's more of a portrait of a conflicted (and controversial) figure like PATTON, rather than some hagiography.

THE DARKEST HOUR, directed by Joe Wright, will be released in theaters November 24th, 2017.