Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank and two-time Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson will headline a new drama about Holocaust denier David Irving, according to Screen Daily.
The film, based on the book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier by Deborah Lipstadt, will be scripted by the playwright David Hare. Hare’s on-screen CV includes The Reader and The Hours.
Lipstadt is a historian who was taken to court by Irving for libel after she called him a Holocaust denier. Swank will play Lipstadt while Wilkinson takes on the role of Nazi apologist Irving.
The drama will be directed by Mick Jackson, best known for The Bodyguard and Volcano. It will be produced by Gary Foster, whose credits include Sleepless in Seattle and Ghost Rider, and Russ Krasnoff, who produced The Soloist.
“This is a powerful story about the legal and personal battle Deborah Lipstadt fought to defend the veracity of historical facts,” said producers Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff. “No one has the right to erase history by distorting the truth and David Hare’s brilliant script weaves a relevant and thrilling journey.”
Swank, who won the best actress Oscar twice for her roles in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, was last seen alongside Tommy Lee Jones in The Homesman. She’ll next be seen in The One Percent, a TV drama from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu.
Wilkinson, who was nominated for best supporting actor for In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton, last appeared as Lyndon B Johnson in Selma. His forthcoming roles include Katherine Heigl comedy Jenny’s Wedding and the Nicholas Sparks romance The Choice.
