Empire of Light, the new drama from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, has added more star power alongside Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward. Deadline reports that Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke, and Tanya Moodie will star in Mendes' first solo outing for Searchlight Pictures.
Empire of Light is Mendes' first film since his 2019 outing 1917, and while there's little known about the plot he's crafted for the drama, we do know it is a love story centered around 1980s England and a stunning old movie theater. Mendes writes and produces alongside Pippa Harris through their company Neal Street Productions, with Matthew Greenfield, David Greenbaum, and Katie Goodson-Thomas producing through Searchlight. Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins will be behind the lens once again for Mendes, and the new additions to the cast certainly up the ante for the film. Firth is an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, and Critics Choice Award winner best known for his performance as King George VI in The King's Speech, which earned him an Oscar. He's no stranger to working alongside Mendes either, making a brief appearance in 1917 as General Erinmore. He even previously starred alongside Colman in the recent romantic drama Mothering Sunday, only furthering his connections to the project.
Jones, meanwhile, is another major award nominee set to appear in a slew of interesting productions, from Jon S. Baird's Tetris to the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise. He most recently appeared in a pair of dramas including Amazon's The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and A24's First Cow, as well as the BAFTA-nominated comedy show The Detectorists. Clarke also appeared in the Amazon drama, though her best-known recent work is for the Jane Austen novel turn drama series Sanditon. She has a long list of high-profile appearances on the big and small screen, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and Black Mirror.
Moodie can be seen in the recent Sky Original A Discovery of Witches as well as AMC+'s Motherland. Like Clarke, she too appeared in the new Star Wars trilogy with a role as Bellava Parnadee in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. From 2010 to 2017, she also appeared as Ella in the smash British drama Sherlock.
Empire of Light is expected to premiere sometime next fall.