Brokeback Mountain helmer Ang Lee has found the lead for his next feature in the shape of newcomer, Joe Alwyn. A fresh faced lad, Alwyn could be in for the time of his life as he heads up Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.
Slumdog Millionaire‘s Simon Beaufoy – an Oscar-winning scribe – adapted the script from the original novel by Ben Fountain, which focuses on the titular 19-year-old Texas-born infantryman, who returns home along with his fellow U.S. servicemen after they survive a firefight in Iraq in 2005. With the veterans home, they’re granted a a victory lap that leads them to the Dallas Cowboys’ football stadium where they’re honored during the team’s Thanksgiving halftime show. According to buzz surrounding Fountain’s novel, it’s a sharp, cutting story that packs in plenty of laughs.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is slated to commence shooting in April, and you can check out the official Amazon synopsis below.
A razor-sharp satire set in Texas during America’s war in Iraq, it explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad.
Ben Fountain’s remarkable debut novel follows the surviving members of the heroic Bravo Squad through one exhausting stop in their media-intensive “Victory Tour” at Texas Stadium, football mecca of the Dallas Cowboys, their fans, promoters, and cheerleaders.
