He’s played young military figures, a cyber-enhanced bad guy, a debonair spy, and of course, a kilted heartthrob. Now, Sam Heughan seems to have found a role that will use his Munro-climbing passion, as a mountain climber vying to be the first to conquer Mt. Everest.
Heughan will star in Everest, with fellow Scot Ewan McGregor and English actor Mark Strong, directed by Doug Liman. The film is adapted from best-selling author Jeffrey Archer’s story of the real-life George Mallory (McGregor), who is selected by the Royal Geographic Society to be the first man to scale Mt. Everest. Sam will play his Australian rival, the eccentric George Finch. Set after the end of WW 1, Deadline Hollywood, reporting on the news, said that the “the challenge has nothing to do with patriotism, instead it is a singular test of self.” Those of us who have followed Sam’s physical challenges – marathons, munros, fitness and more – know that this is right up his alley!
Mallory’s life ended in mystery – he died on his third attempt to scale the peak, and it was never known if he made it to the top (although in 1999, Everest climbers believed they had actually found Mallory’s body).
Finch, Sam’s character, was a chemist and mountaineer, the first person known to climb to a height greater than 8,000 meters (26,000 feet). Finch died in 1970. You can learn more about him here.
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- George Finch
The movie will begin production in the UK and Italy in January 2022. No release date is currently noted. Added HanWay Films (marketing and distribution) managing director Gabrielle Stewart: “Liman and McGregor are passionate adventurers both in life and filmmaking, and this film asks one of the great unresolved questions of the Everest story: was Mallory the first to make it to the top 30 years before Hillary? It would not surprise me if in the wake of this film, and as we approach the centenary of Mallory’s life-taking climb, this great mystery would lead us to one of great discovery.”
Read the entire Deadline Hollywood story here.
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