Gary Oldman is lined up to star as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, a forthcoming feature from leviathan UK producers Working Title Films.

As we announced on PI back in March, Joe Wright (Pan, Anna Karenina) is at the helm to direct from Anthony McCarten”s screenplay. The ‘darkest hour” of the title is a reference to the wartime leader”s words to describe the 12 months of the Second World War following the fall of France in June 1940.

There will be a brief stint in a studio, but much of the film will be shot on location, including parts of Yorkshire and Manchester. HoDs are on board the project with principal photography lined up for late summer/early autumn.

The start date is listed on PI and we will send an alert to all those following the project once pre-production gets underway.

Working Title has a busy slate as always, with the Stephen Frears-directed Victoria & Abdul and the Chloe Grace Moretz-starrer The Little Mermaid in the pipeline.

It seems Oldman will be around in the UK for much of the rest of this year – is currently filming The Hitman’s Bodyguard with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson in the UK, Bulgaria and the Netherlands, and then moves on to Hunter Killer with Gerard Butler before taking up his role as Churchill.

Gary Oldman photo via WireImage/Steve Jennings/Getty Images.