Steve Coogan to star in The Penguin Lessons

Steve Coogan has been cast in ‘The Penguin Lessons’ which tells the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who goes to work at a school in Argentina in 1976.

The 57-year-old actor is to star in the movie from ‘The Full Monty’ helmer Peter Cattaneo with Jeff Pope adapting the script from Tom Michell’s best-selling novel.

He expects an easy ride but instead finds a complicated and divided nation and a class of unteachable young boys.

When he discovers a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down and the bird becomes not only a valued friend, but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons for Tom, the boys and many others.

Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh are producing the movie alongside Robert Walak for the production company 42.

The pair said: “We were captivated by the true story of the unlikely bond between a man and a penguin from the moment we read Tom Michell’s book.

“Jeff Pope, the master of true story adaptation for the screen, has written an enchanting screenplay, with a backdrop of political upheaval and strife which Tom must navigate with his feathered companion.

“We couldn’t imagine anyone better to take on the lead role than Steve Coogan, one of the greatest actors working today, and of course the brilliant Oscar-nominated director Peter Cattaneo with whom we’re thrilled to be working again.”

Cattaneo explained that he was attracted to the story’s “visceral setting of the political strife of late-70s Argentina and a man’s unexpected bond with a penguin at its heart”.