Having taken a quick dip in the lake as Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice, Colin Firth is about to embark on the considerably more turbulent waters of the ocean. He's starring as real-life amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst in a new drama entitled The Mercy. Here’s our first look at Cap’n Firth.
Rachel Weisz will also star – though she is wisely staying on dry land – as Crowhurst’s waiting wife. The film will tell the true story of the amateur sailor who participated in a 1968 Sunday Times competition to single-handedly circumnavigate the world’s oceans via yacht.
Crowhurst kept logs while at sea, writing over 25,000 words of varying trustworthiness about his wildly dangerous solo voyage. Hoping to win the cash prize and save his failing business, Crowhurst slowly suffered a mental breakdown at sea. Things, alas, did not end well.
James Marsh, who won an Oscar for his work on Man On Wire and most recently directed The Theory Of Everything, is behind the camera on this one, which looks like it could be the All Is Lost of 2017. Given Firth, Weisz and Marsh have all got Academy Awards on their mantlepieces, we wouldn’t be surprised if this gets mentioned in next year’s awards chatter.