The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Wildlife star Carey Mulligan and The King’s Man‘s Ralph Fiennes have signed on to star in the upcoming Netflix period drama The Dig based on the John Preston novel of the same name.
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The film, written by Harlots creator and Jane Eyre scripter Moira Buffini and directed by Simon Stone (The Daughter), is based on a true story and is set at the turn of World War II as Edith Pretty (Mulligan) has become recently widowed and now suspects that her land contains buried riches. She enlists the help of local archaeologist Basil Brown (Fiennes) to help excavate the area, only for him to be pushed aside by the museum curators as they uncover one of the most important discoveries in history.
The Dig was originally set up at BBC Films with Fiennes and Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies) set to star in the project, but once it moved to the streaming service, Kidman left the project and Mulligan has signed on to replace her, with Gabrielle Tana (Philomena) attached to produce.
Mulligan, who was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance in the 2009 coming-of-age drama An Education, recently worked with Netflix on the Oscar-nominated period drama Mudbound and is well-known for her roles in the 2011 crime thriller Drive, the 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby and the Coen Brothers’ acclaimed music dramedy Inside Llewyn Davis.
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Fiennes found early success with critically lauded roles in the historical drama Schindler’s List and romantic war drama The English Patient, going on to star in the Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter finale Red Dragon, the Harry Potter series as Lord Voldemort, the espionage thriller The Constant Gardener, the Daniel Craig Bond franchise as Gareth Mallory aka M, Wes Anderson’s comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel and will next be seen in the Kingsman prequel The King’s Man.
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