European Films

Belgian actor Jérémie Renier at the recent Venice Film Festival. Portrait by Fabrizio Maltese for european-films.net, (c) 2006. All rights reserved.

Belgian actor Jérémie Renier, who stars in the Cannes Palme d'or winner L'enfant (The Child) and the upcoming Nue propriété (Private Property), has joined the cast of the UK-US co-production In Bruges, which director Martin McDonagh will direct on location in the medieval Belgian city. The suspense thriller stars Irish actors Colin Farrell (Alexander, the recent Miami Vice) and Brendan Gleeson (Kingdom of Heaven, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as two hitmen who are sent to Bruges by their boss (Ralph Fiennes, the evil one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) to cool down afer a job in London. Once in Bruges, however, the two get entangled with both locals and tourists and a film shoot. French actress Clémence Poésy (also a Goblet of Fire alumnus) stars as a woman who works on the film being shot in Bruges, and who catches the eye of Farell's character, much to the displeasure of her ex-boyfriend, to be played by Renier.

The film will be the feature debut of Irishman Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar last year for his short film Six Shooter, which also starred Gleeson. He starred his career as a playwright and was the first playwright since Shakespeare to have four of his plays playing at the same time in London at the age of 27. Many of his plays have also been shown on Broadway and elsewhere. Production on In Bruges is set to start on location in February. No possible release date has been mentioned as yet.