Dominic Cooper, Stephen Fry, Rupert Everett & Finn Cole Set For True-Story Falklands Dramedy ‘All In The Same Boat’; Playtime & UTA Launch For AFM

EXCLUSIVE: Dominic Cooper (Reacher), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit), Rupert Everett (Shakespeare In Love) and Finn Cole (Peaky Blinders) have been set to star in comedy-drama All In The Same Boat, based on the true story of a British passenger ferry sent to the Falklands War in 1982.

Paris-based Playtime is handling international sales and will co-rep North American sales with UTA Independent Film Group at this week’s American Film Market.

Written and directed by David Stoddart (Lone Star Bull), the film is due to start shooting in summer 2027, the 45th anniversary of the conflict.

The synopsis reads: “In 1982, the civilian ferry MV Norland and its crew are requisitioned to carry nearly 1,000 paratroopers to the Falklands War. The forced cohabitation in such close quarters is at first chaotic, especially for Wendy and Frankie, two flamboyant gay stewards who face hostility from the soldiers. But as the ship heads south, Wendy’s piano nights become the heart of the ship and slowly forge an unlikely bond between soldiers and crew.”

Cooper will play the character Frankie. Fry will play Captain Ellerby. Everett will play Commander Esplin-Jones. Finn Cole will be paratrooper Trevor.

Additionally, Taz Skylar (One Piece) will play Sergeant Major Mal Simpson, and Scott Ellis Watson (I Swear) will play Joe. The role of Wendy is currently being cast.

The film is co-written with Warren Fitzgerald and Tom Williams, and based on real events and on Fitzgerald’s book All in the Same Boat: The Untold Story of the British Ferry Crew Who Helped Win the Falklands War. It is produced by Christopher Simon of New Sparta Productions, whose credits include Miss You Already and Mafia Mamma and Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Writer-director David Stoddart said: “I’m thrilled to be working with New Sparta again on All in the Same Boat. What I love about this film is that it’s such an unlikely true story. It’s funny, outrageous at times, but at its heart, it’s incredibly moving. And to have this cast coming together to tell it is so exciting. We’ve got some of the most brilliant British actors playing these wonderfully larger-than-life characters, and I think there’s going to be a lot of fun in bringing them all together on a ship. I want audiences to have an absolute blast watching this film, but also to come away moved by the extraordinary humanity of the people at the centre of it.”

Christopher Simon of New Sparta Productions commented: “All in the Same Boat is an absolute blast: a heartfelt true story that will have audiences laughing out loud, reaching for the tissues and dancing in the cinema. It has been the biggest joy to develop it alongside the extraordinary David Stoddart from Warren Fitzgerald’s amazing book and a cast bursting with international treasures.”

Sébastien Beffa, Managing Director, Playtime added: “The whole Playtime team is thrilled. It’s a story firmly anchored in its period, yet strikingly timely in the themes it explores and in its characters, who deeply moved us when we first read the script. This is exactly the kind of project with real crossover potential. Christopher and Sophie make for a terrific producing team, and we are big believers in David as a director.”

Cooper is represented by Markham, Froggatt & Irwin and WME. Fry is repped by Hamilton Hodell and CAA. Everett is represented by The Artists Partnership. Cole is represented by UTA, Independent Talent Group, and Sloane, Offer. Skylar is with Independent Talent Group, Common Ground Entertainment and Verve. Watson is represented by Hunwick Associates and The Artists Partnership.

Taz Skylar as Sergeant Major Mal Simpson (One Piece, Boiling Point)
Skylar is represented by Independent Talent Group, Common Ground Entertainment and Verve

Scott Ellis Watson as Joe (I Swear, Ghosts: The Possession of Button House)
Watson is represented by Maryam Hunwick at Hunwick Associates and Taylor Jefferson at The Artists Partnership

TBC for the role Wendy

Crew:
Writer / Director: David Stoddart
Stoddart is represented by Independent Talent and UTA

Writers: Warren FitzGerald & Tom Williams
Producer: Christopher Simon
Co-Producer: Sophie Lipsey
Executive Producers: Orlando Figg, Jerome Booth, Maggie Monteith
Cinematographer: John Lee
Production Designer: Amanda McArthur
Casting Director: Nancy Bishop

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT is written and directed by David Stoddart (Lone Star Bull), co-written with Warren Fitzgerald and Tom Williams, and based on real events and on Fitzgerald’s book All in the Same Boat: The Untold Story of the British Ferry Crew Who Helped Win the Falklands War. It is produced by Christopher Simon of New Sparta Productions (UK), the company behind Miss You Already and Mafia Mamma and co-financier of Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer.