"The Great Pretender" Gets Financed

The Peter Capaldi comedy starring Ewan McGregor has found both a title and a financing partner. "The Great Pretender, which will have an $18 million budget, now has the financial backing of Relativity Media.

McGregor (Obi Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars II" & "III") takes on four different roles in "The Great Pretender," which Capaldi wrote and will direct.

According to Variety, McGregor will play Leslie Grangely, a hot Hollywood actor of the 30s who signs on to star as Bonnie Prince Charlie in a movie set in Scotland in the 18th century. But Grangely has a drinking problem and disappears, which causes the filmmakers to hire a Grangely look-alike to play both the actor and the character the actor was playing in the movie. Add it up and that equals four different characters for McGregor to wrap himself around.

Filming is expected to begin in early 2006 in London.

McGregor will next be seen in the dramatic thriller, "Stay," opposite Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.

SOURCE: Variety