Daniel Radcliffe Cast As Olympic Icon, Sebastian Coe

Daniel Radcliffe is set to add Olympic icon to his list of roles, as he has been cast as Sebastian Coe. The currently untitled film is to be  directed by James Watkins, who has already worked with Daniel Radcliffe on The Woman In Black.

Set around the 1970’s -80’s the script, by Academy Award winner Simon Beaufoy and Will Davis, will follow Sebastian’s rivalry with fellow Olympian Steve Ovett, no confirmation yet as to who will play Ovett. The story centers around their famous battle in the lead up to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Set to film in Russia and the UK, starting April next year.

Simon Beaufoy

When asked earlier this year about the project Simon Beaufoy commented “I hadn’t realized how good it was until you dig into their past…They were fantastically different athletes and different people.” He also commented on the “perfect end” which we know from history sees Sebastian Coe win the 1.500m and Ovett taking the lead in the 800m. Already accustom to adapting novels Simon Beaufoy, who recently worked on adaptions such as The Huger Games: Catching fire, has adapted this script from The Perfect Distance, a book by Pat Butcher. The project is currently being referred to as Gold but no official title has yet been released and is being funded by BBC films, the BFI and AL Films.

No release date has been given yet, but we are assuming 2015 at the earliest based on the current production schedule. However Daniel Radcliffe fans don’t have to wait that long to see him on our screens again with Kill Your Darlings, Horns and The F Word all set for release later this year.

Do you think Daniel Radcliffe will do well in this role? Let us know in comments!