Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa have found the lead for their next feature! The Cinemaholic can confirm that Asa Butterfield will star in the romantic drama ‘Matinee Idol.’ Filming will take place in the United Kingdom in the fall this year. Richard Galazka wrote the screenplay.
The plot centers on Patrick, played by Butterfield, hailing from an English country town, who is struggling to keep the cinema business passed on to him by his late father alive due to his refusal to go commercial. He instead watches the classics on 35mm from the projector room, mouthing along with the larger-than-life lead actors. He meets an American girl named Annie on a dating app, and while engaging in small talk, he dreams of grand gestures of romance for her that he sees on the big screen. He even acts out scenes in his imagination from movies like ‘Casablanca,’ ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s,’ ‘Grease’, ‘Lady And The Tramp,’ ‘Titanic,’ ‘Say Anything,’ ‘His Girl Friday,’ ‘Notting Hill,’ and ‘Four Weddings And A Funeral.’
However, Patrick uses silhouetted profile pictures and doesn’t want to meet Annie in person, as he doesn’t consider himself worthy of someone as cool as her. When she asks what he looks like, in panic, he sends a picture of his father when he was young and uses his name, i.e., Mark Willis. Patrick eventually arranges a meeting to come out clean, but changes his mind at the last moment. After that, Annie tracks down the last known house of Mark Willis and knocks on Patrick’s door. He then declares that Mark was his step-brother who died a few days earlier due to a bee strike. Thankfully, he is able to finally shed Mark’s skin and be with Annie as himself. All he has to ensure is that his mother doesn’t find out that Annie thinks she has been texting her dead husband. His dream now is to impress Annie with a grand romantic gesture, and he has one chance for that, although she seems to have some plans of her own.
While Asa Butterfield is primarily known for his performance as Otis Milburn in Netflix’s ‘Sex Education,’ he also played Brandon Boyd in the Quibi horror series ’50 States of Fright,’ which explores stories based on urban legends. His recent performances in feature films include James in the ‘Your Christmas or Mine’ comedy movies, Marcus Fletcher in the horror movie ‘All Fun and Games,’ Finn in ‘Greed,’ starring Isla Fisher and Shirley Henderson, and Stillman in the rom-com ‘Time Freak,’ also featuring Sophie Turner and Skyler Gisondo.
Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa have co-directed the Terri Hooley biography ‘Good Vibrations,’ the romantic drama ‘Ordinary Love,’ starring Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson, and the romantic action flick ‘Cherrybomb.’ The duo also directed multiple episodes of the Netflix drama series ‘Obsession.’
The United Kingdom has served as the base for many major movies and shows, including ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and ‘House of the Dragon.’ Upcoming projects to be shot there include Hulu’s ‘Downforce’ and Russell Crowe’s ‘Billion Dollar Spy.’
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