Ryan Phillipe & Eva Green to star in Franklyn

Last November, we told you that Scottish thesp Ewan McGregor was to star in the British sci-fi movie Franklyn for first time writer/director Gerald McMurrow. That film was due to begin filming in the summer of 2007 but that summer is now over, and not a single second of film was shot. The movie for whatever reason never got anyway near filming. Variety are now telling us that Ewan McGregor is off the picture and instead it will be American actor Ryan Phillipe who leads the movie along with the lovely Eva Green. McMurrow is still on board and if you ask me this decision seems to have come about as a decision to cast younger leads.

The pic is set in contemporary London and a future metropolis dominated by faith and weaves the tale of four lost souls divided by two parallel worlds on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates.

Of course, what is odd straight away about this move is that Phillipe isn't British. Will he change his accent for the role or are they going with an American lead character now? Newcomer Sam Riley is also board, with John Hurt's name listed on IMDB but not mentioned in the trade's article. I like the idea of the movie but I think I had more faith whenever McGregor was board. These two new leads scream out 'blockbuster' to me and maybe not the Children of Men serious sci-fi that it could be.