David Farnor | On 05, May 2024

Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton are heading to Netflix to play The Ballad of a Small Player.

The film is the latest project from director Edward Berger, who helmed 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front for Netflix. That received a leading 14 nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, winning seven, including Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director as well as nine nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and winning four, including for Best International Feature and Best Cinematography.

Berger’s most recent film is Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, to be released in November 2024 by Focus Features. Now, Berger is reuniting with the streamer, directing a script by Rowan Joffe, who has adapted Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name.

The film follows a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau who, when his past and his debts start to catch up with him, encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.

Colin Farrell will star in the lead role of Lord Doyle, with Swinton playing Cynthia Blithe.

Behind the camera, the film is produced by Mike Goodridge for Good Chaos, Edward Berger for Nine Hours, Matthew James Wilkinson for Stigma Films. Good Chaos is a UK based production outfit with credits including Triangle Of Sadness, while Nine Hours is a independent global film and TV production label founded by Berger, partner Luke Rivett (Corner Office) and partner Jeanne Tremsal (So Long Daddy).

Filming will begin on location this summer.

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