Christopher Nolan to Direct WWII Film Dunkirk

Inception director Christopher Nolan is set to direct WWII film Dunkirk, that is based on his original screenplay.

According to Variety, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy are currently in talks to join the action-adventure movie, which is set during the 1940 evacuation of more than 300,000 mostly British troops surrounded by German forces in the French coastal city of Dunkirk.

Nolan, who will be working on the project with his wife Emma Thomas, has begun testing teenagers in London for lead roles.

“We are thrilled to be continuing our collaboration with Christopher Nolan, a singular filmmaker who has created some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of all time,” Greg Silverman, president of creative development and worldwide production of Warner Bros. Pictures, told Variety. “Dunkirk is a gripping and powerful story and we are excited to see Chris, Emma and their cast realize it on the big screen.”

Warner Bros. has dated Nolan’s next film for July 21, 2017. Shooting will begin in May 2016 in many of the real locations.