Following his recent success in The Banshees of Inisherin, one of Colin Farrell‘s next projects will be The Ballad of a Small Player, helmed by Edward Berger, for Netflix.
While Farrell earned an Oscar nomination for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin last year, Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front became one of the Academy Awards’ most successful foreign movies, taking home four prizes, such as ‘Best International Feature Film’.
Berger started his directorial career with a few episodes of German television shows and made-for-TV movies. With his 2014 film Jack, the filmmaker was almost considered to represent Germany at the Oscars for ‘Best International Feature Film’.
Although he was not successful, Berger would, of course, win the prize eight years later, shooting him to widespread prominence and allowing him to secure some exciting projects. He’s currently awaiting the release of his next movie, Conclave, which is set to hit theatres in November.
In the meantime, Berger will begin shooting a new film with Farrell as the starring actor. The Ballad of a Small Player will be adapted by Rowan Joffe, whose screenwriting credits include 28 Weeks Later and Before I Go To Sleep. He also created and directed the show Tin Star featuring Tim Roth.
Using Lawrence Osborne’s book of the same name as source material, The Ballad of a Small Player will see Farrell play a conman gambler who spends his time playing at the casinos in Macau.
The story has elements of the supernatural within it, but it is equally grounded in reality, following Farrell’s character as he tricks people into thinking he’s from a considerably more well-off background.
Little is known about who else will be featured in the film or when it might be ready for release, but if all goes to plan, then shooting should begin in Asia this summer.
Berger will be producing under Nine Hours, with Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma Films) and Mike Goodridge (Good Chaos) also taking on production roles.
Farrell will be working on another movie this year that will see him star opposite Barbie‘s Margot Robbie. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is to be directed by Kogonada, who also worked with Farrell on After Yang.
Until we have a trailer for The Ballad of a Small Player, revisit the trailer for All Quiet on the Western Front below.
