Christopher Nolan has set his sights on newcomer Fionn Whitehead to play one of the two young leads in his WWII movie “Dunkirk,” multiple individuals familiar with the Warner Bros. project have told TheWrap.
It is unclear whether Whitehead has closed a deal at this point as he seemingly has no U.S. representation, but insiders suggest he is Nolan’s choice — and the “Dark Knight” director often gets his man. Nolan has been testing young actors for weeks, many of whom remain largely unknown.
Warner Bros. declined to comment.
Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance will co-star in the action-adventure movie, which chronicles the WWII evacuation of Dunkirk.
Nolan wrote the script and he’ll also produce the film with his longtime producing partner Emma Thomas. He has already visited Dunkirk to scout locations for the re-creation of Operation Dynamo, the British military operation that saved the lives of 330,000 Allied soldiers who were surrounded by German forces.
The large-scale film will be shot on a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography for maximum image quality and high-impact immersion. Shooting will begin in May using many of the real locations of the true-life events, which form the background for the story.
Warner Bros. will release “Dunkirk” worldwide on July 21, 2017. The film will be released theatrically on IMAX, 70mm, 35mm and all other screens.
Whitehead’s only role to date is ITV’s three-part domestic horror-drama “Him,” which marks his first screen role, though he is a member of the National Youth Theatre according to Screen Terrier. He’s represented by Sophie Holden at Curtis Brown Group in the UK.