Movie Casting News: Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, and more join Colin Firth in 'Operation Mincemeat'!

Forget those catty Darcy 1995 vs. Darcy 2005 fan wars and debates! No, scratch those unnecessary fan wars of who played the best Darcy, as they are endless and doesn't get you anywhere, lol. Get on board and be on Team Darcy instead! Get this...two iconic Darcy actors, who are starring together in one movie?!?! Yes, you read it right...and no, not just these Darcy actors, make it 5 Austen actors (3 Pride & Prejudice actors and 2 Sense & Sensibility actors) in one movie!!!!! Yes, a thousand times,Yes! to these awesome film casting already!!! Deadline just reported this morning that P&P Actors (2005 and 1995's Mr. Darcys) Matthew Macfadyen and (FYI: They were supposed to co-star in The Promise Land movie way back in 2010, but it didn't happen due to their scheduling conflicts at the time) are now  finally co-starring in a new WWII Period Drama titled, Operation Mincemeat.

The other 3 Austen actors who are joining them in this film are: (P&P 2005's very own Mrs. Gardiner; Downton Abbey TV & Movie), Tom Wilkinson (Mr. Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility 1995), and Hattie Morahan (Elinor Dashwoood of Sense & Sensibility 2008 TV Miniseries). Matthew will playing as Charles Cholmondeley and Colin as Ewen Montagu. They are playing two brilliant British intelligence officers behind the Operation Mincemeat!! Filming for this movie begins later this month in London and Spain.

Read more info. about Operation Mincemeat via Deadline below...

‘Operation Mincemeat’: Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn & Tom Wilkinson Join WWII Drama

Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Johnny Flynn (Beast) and Tom Wilkinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) are joining Colin Firth and Kelly Macdonald in John Madden’s WWII drama Operation Mincemeat, which reunites Firth with The King’s Speech producer See-Saw Films.

Also joining the cast are Hattie Morahan (Official Secrets), Simon Russell Beale (Mary Queen Of Scots), Paul Ritter (Chernobyl) and Mark Gatiss (Sherlock). Filming is set to start later this month in London and Spain.

Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex) has adapted the screenplay based on the best-selling Ben McIntyre book of the same name.

Set in 1943, the film follows two brilliant intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Macfadyen) who conceived a plan that was dubbed Operation Mincemeat. They would trick the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece rather than Sicily. Their plan was to get a corpse, equip it with misleading papers, then drop it off the coast of Spain where Nazi spies would take the bait.

A See-Saw Films and Cohen Media Group production, in association with Archery Pictures, the feature is being produced by Charles S. Cohen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Kris Thykier. Simon Gillis, See-Saw’s COO of Film, will serve as executive producer. Jina Jay led casting.
FilmNation Entertainment alongside See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, Cross City Films, sold out international territories at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with Warner Bros acquiring several key markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Benelux. Cross City Films and CAA Media Finance are co-repping U.S. rights.

Director Madden said, “Ben Macintyre’s book presents an irresistible range of characters navigating a world suspended between unreliable fact and enticing fiction, and demands a cast to match. I’m very excited about the ensemble that we’ve been able to bring together – a credit to Michelle’s Ashford’s rich and surprising script, which tells an extraordinary and thrilling story in unexpectedly human terms.


Further info. on What was Operation Mincemeat? via History.