Daniel Radcliffe signs up for new movie role

Actor Daniel Radcliffe has signed on to play Sebastian Coe in the sports drama Gold.

The Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is to play Sebastian Coe in a film drama about his rivalry with fellow Olympian Steve Ovett.

He may well have to work on his running skills though being a expert at quidditch may prove to be of some help.

The movie will reunite the actor with his The Woman In Black director James Watkins. The story will be based on the book The Perfect Distance, with a script by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and Will Davies (How To Train Your Dragon).

The true story centers on the rivalry between Olympic runners Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett; Coe and Ovett started racing against each other in 1972 and were considered two of the fastest middle distance runners in the world. The Perfect Distance book summary states, “As far apart as possible in terms of class and upbringing, their rivalry burned as intense on the track as away from it. The pendulum swung between the pair of them—each breaking the other’s records, and, memorably, triumphing in each other’s events in Moscow in 1980.”

It is not yet known who will play Ovett in the production.

Coe, now Lord Coe, famously ran against Ovett in Moscow, the former clinching victory in the 1,500m and Ovett picking up gold in the 800m.

Filming will begin in the UK and Russia in April next year.

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