Liam Neeson - H 2015
AP ImagesNeil Jordan is reteaming with his Michael Collins leading man Liam Neeson.
The Oscar-winning director has lined up the busy action star for The Trainer, in which he’ll play a premier horse trainer who, beset by tragedy, loses everything he cherishes and almost forgets how to live. Into his life comes a teenage refugee, Nadya, who has fled her own horrors and now finds herself in a confounding new world. Their only connection, to themselves, and ultimately to their own hearts, is a horse called Allabelle.
The screenplay was written by Sully scribe Todd Komarnicki, alongside David Donahue and James Villemaire. Noted Irish filmmaker Arthur Lappin (In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot) is producing alongside Robin Gurland, Gregory O’Connor and Komarnicki. HanWay is handling international sales on the project and will be introducing it to buyers at AFM. CAA is looking after domestic rights.
“Liam Neeson is one of the world’s most beloved actors, thanks to unforgettable performances in films ranging from Schindler’s List to Love Actually, so we’re thrilled to have Liam return to Ireland with a character driven film like The Trainer,” HanWay managing director Gabrielle Stewart said Tuesday in a statement. “He and Neil are a great pairing and David Donohue’s, James Villemaire’s and Todd Komarnicki’s script provides us a beautiful and life-affirming story of a man learning to live again.”
Neeson, most recently seen in A Monster Calls, has several major projects in the pipeline, notably Silence, Felt and The Commuter. Jordan’s last feature was 2012’s Byzantium, but the director has recently been shooting crime series Riviera.
The Trainer was developed with the support of the Irish Film Board and is set to commence principal photography next summer in Ireland.
Neeson and Komarnicki are repped by CAA. Jordan is repped by Casarotto Ramsey & Associates and CAA.
