EXCLUSIVE: Domhnall Gleeson, seared into the consciences of children worldwide for his turn as the villainous General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, could be about to play a more family friendly figure in Winnie the Pooh creator AA Milne. Gleeson is in talks to board Simon Curtis’ Goodbye Christopher Robin, which charts the relationship between Milne and his son, which led to the creation of everyone’s favourite honey-loving bear Winnie the Pooh. Pooh was named after Milne’s son Robin’s teddy bear. Robin, who initially had a difficult relationship with his father, also served as the inspiration for the character Christopher Robin. The real Robin’s toys also lent their names to other Winnie the Pooh characters such as Tigger, Eyeore and Piglet.
Prolific Brit producer Damian Jones is producing along with former Pinewood Pictures head Steve Christian. Pathe developed the project, which will go through Jones’ first-look production pact with Fox Searchlight, news of which Deadline broke a few weeks ago. This is shaping up nicely for Jones, who has been on a roll of late with local hits Dad’s Army and The Lady in the Van as well as the feature adaptation of classic comedy Brit TV series Absolutely Fabulous, which Fox Searchlight will distribute and co-finance with BBC Films.
Gleeson’s star continues to rise following his break out turns in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and . The Irish actor is currently filming the latest instalment of Star Wars. He will juggle that schedule with his role in Netflix’s National Lampoon origins film a Futile & Stupid Gesture. From there, in addition to Goodbye Christopher Robin, Gleeson is attached to re-team with Frank director Lenny Abrahamson on The Little Stranger, an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ ghost novel that has Potboiler’s Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood and Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney producing.
Gleeson also has Doug Liman’s Mena opposite Tom Cruise and Kevin Tent’s Crash Pad in the pipelines.
He is repped by The Agency and Paradigm.
Winnie the Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, has become one of the most iconic characters in children’s literature. Disney famously adapted the character into a popular animated character, first appearing in the 1966 Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.
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