Jonathan Pryce and Nick Mohammed to star in new film Sleeping Lions
- Sleeping Lions, a comedy murder mystery film adapted from 1951 novel An English Murder, will star Jonathan Pryce and Nick Mohammed
- When a snowstorm hits at the Earl of Warbeck's hall, the guests are stranded and an attempt is made on the life of the earl's son, the leader of a dangerous new political party
- "Sleeping Lions is a gothic satire that mercilessly holds up a mirror to our deeply turbulent times"
New film Sleeping Lions will star Jonathan Pryce and Nick Mohammed.
The comedy murder mystery is described as a contemporary adaptation of Cyril Hare's 1951 novel An English Murder. Set to be distributed in the UK and Ireland by Sky, it will shoot in Britain later this year.
Screen Daily reports that Pryce will play the dying Earl of Warbeck who summons his nearest and dearest for a final Christmas at Warbeck Hall. When a snowstorm hits, the guests are cut off from the world and an attempt is made on the life of the earl's son, the leader of a dangerous new political party.
Whilst Mohammed is a regular in British comedies, veteran actor Pryce's last British comedy credit was 2017 film Dough, although he is also now set to appear in forthcoming Steve Coogan film The Penguin Lessons.
Written by James Roblin, Sleeping Lions will be directed by Mat Whitecross. He has previously worked on projects such as Vic & Bob's Big Night Out, This England and Oasis documentary Supersonic.
He explains: "Sleeping Lions is a gothic satire that mercilessly holds up a mirror to our deeply turbulent times and gleefully eviscerates all the conventions of the genre - a rare whodunit where you find yourself rooting for the killer."
Shane Kelly from Mister Smith Entertainment, which will distribute the film abroad, says: "In the wake of films like Knives Out and Saltburn, Mat's satirical spin on the British murder mystery is sure to speak loudly to contemporary audiences."