MovieChat Forums > The Dam Busters (1955) Discussion > Looks like I was spookily prophetic abou...

Looks like I was spookily prophetic about JAMES MCAVOY ....

posted 17 years ago by westley747
5 replies | jump to latest

From the movie pages in today's Daily Mail:

" James McAvoy has begun talks about starring in the new $100million Dambusters movie.

The actor, an Oscar contender for his performance in Atonement, has met with director Christian Rivers and producers Peter Jackson and David Frost.

James would portray Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who in 1943 famously led 617 Squadron, dropping bouncing bombs (designed by Barnes Wallis) on three dams in Germany's industrial heartland.

Ian McKellen has been asked to play Barnes Wallis. The film will shoot in Wellington, New Zealand, using Lancaster bombers built in China.

The screenplay has been written by Stephen Fry, who refused to confirm that McAvoy was in talks. However, he did tell me: 'He would certainly be the kind of person one would naturally think of. Gibson was young and glamorous and fresh-faced. It would be stupid not to look at an actor like James McAvoy.' "

I hope i'm right - not out of any "I told you so" smugness, but just because McAvoy is such a great British actor worthy of playing Gibson - I can't see anyone else coming close...

[–] TorontoJediMaster 17 years ago

And it looks like my idea about Sir Ian McKellan as Barnes Wallis was equally prophetic.

[–] westley747 17 years ago

Well done sir!

McKellen would be perfect as Wallis.

[–] Focke_Wulf 17 years ago

Not being able to afford IMDb Pro at the present time, do you know any sites where I might get a little more background on the making of this film? I understand new information on the aircraft and the "skip bombs" themselves has become public since this classic was made in the fifties. I think it would be a fascinating film with new special effects. . . and did you say Lancasters made in China? Full size or large scale models? Oh the mind fairly reels. . .

As a youth, I constructed Revell's 1/72nd scale plastic kit of a "Dam Buster" Lancaster. It was a real challenge at the time, but I thought it turned out well.

Elsewhere on this board I've commented on a Len Deighton novel called BOMBER that I think would also make a great film project. Anyone here familiar with that one?

"I'm not from here, I just live here. . ."

-James Mc Murtry

[–] barnsleyguy 16 years ago

You're right about more info becoming available since the original film was made, the weapon was still on the secret list until the 60's! I made the Revell kit when it came out, too, I remember it as being pretty good for it's time; pity they put the belly guns in which weren't fitted to the actual aircraft. I did read somewhere that the best records on Upkeep (the weapon) were German, as they recovered an intact specimen from a crashed Lancaster, apparently the design changed so many times, the British didn't have proper records!

Bomber is an excellent book, one of Deighton's best and would make a great film. The BBC did it as a radio production and it's available (I think) on CD. Very impressive.

[–] bkc6696 16 years ago

But Mcavoy is so annoying to look at! Argh!