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Matt Bomer & Lucy Griffiths Join the Cast of Goldsman's 'Winter's Tale'

by Ben Pearson
September 21, 2012
Source: Deadline

If you're a fan of blockbuster movies, you're likely familiar with the name Akiva Goldsman. He's produced films like I Am Legend and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but most people probably, unfortunately, know him as the writer of Batman & Robin, the terrible Joel Schumacher film widely considered one of the worst comic book movie adaptations ever. But soon, perhaps Goldsman will be better known as the director of Winter's Tale, an adaptation of Mark Helprin's fantasy novel that already has Will Smith and Russell Crowe set to appear in smaller roles. Deadline reports Matt Bomer and Lucy Griffiths have been cast in major roles.

Colin Farrell is set to play the lead role, a thief who breaks into a Manhattan apartment and falls in love with a dying girl who lives there, who will be played by Jessica Brown Findlay. Bomer, who starred in Magic Mike and on the USA series "White Collar," is playing Farrell's father, while Griffiths, best known from "True Blood," will play his mother. How, you ask? Because the story takes place in modern day but also mysteriously spans back into the 19th century. Since Farrell is older than both of them, we're guessing flashbacks are the only way to pull this one off if they want to avoid cheesy makeup effects.

I know I'm likely going to get burned for this, but I can't help but get excited about such a cool concept (the thief can stop time, and there's also a flying horse involved). Eva Marie Saint, who most recently played Martha Kent in the opening of Superman Returns, also has a role here, but her part is being kept secret because it involves a key plot point. William Hurt has joined the cast, too, so you'll understand why I'm pumped about this even when Goldsman is an unproven director. With an ambitious story to tell, a score by Hans Zimmer, and cinematography by Caleb Deschanel, Winter's Tale is sure to be one of the most interesting movies of 2013, even if it turns out to be a failure.

Filed under Casting, Movie News

From around the web:

DAVIDPD

I really enjoy Bomer in WHITE COLLAR, this sounds good.
Skiwitch

I hope it turns out to be a good movie because of all the talent involved, but I'll go see Matt Bomer in anything!
sblack

I love Matt Bomer he is such a good actor. I know he will be great in this movie!! He is also amazing in White Collar!!
Sam

Matt Bomer is Christian Grey!
http://www.facebook.com/judith.angelo Judith Angelo

I'm having Princess Bride flashbacks only the scale is so monumentally different, I fear this can only end in tears for those who know the book (Cf DUNE). I live to have my fears made foolish, but If ever done at all, I think it should have been serialized by HBO. I like Crowe for Pearly Soames and Jessica Findlay for the romantic lead, but right there is the essential problem- there are three romantic relationships in Winter's Tale...and so much more. Of course you can say that about most books, but with a novel of ideas, changing the characters and reducing the intricacies of the story can and usually does change and reduce the ideas. A Beautiful Mind was a successful film because Akiva threw out the facts and created attractive characters as metaphors for the protagonist's madness. It was a brilliant violation of the facts that gave us a fairy-tale rendering which did not betray the story. Winter's Tale is already metaphor- it doesn't even end so much as drop us off leaving a viral story inside us. Some great films have done that too, of course. In the end we who love the book are at the mercy of the film makers' comprehension of it. Here's to all our fears laid to waste.