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Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has shed some light on his decision to cast high-profile singer Harry Styles in his new film Dunkirk
The former One Direction star is set to make his acting debut in the WWII 'suspense thriller' opposite critically-acclaimed actors Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance.
Speaking to the LA Times
“When we put the cast together, we had some established names. But for the guys on the beach, we really wanted young unknowns. He’s not that unknown, but he’d never done anything as an actor before. So he auditioned. I auditioned literally thousands of young men with different combinations of young men. And he had it.”
Nolan made it clear he wanted to shun the 'celebrity' angle of Styles' casting when asked if the 22-year-old was hesitant about cutting his hair for the role, stating simply: “I don't want to get into it.”
Dunkirk tells the story of Operation Dynamo, a daring plan to rescue 300,000 Allied troops who were surrounded by Nazis soldiers in Dunkirk during World War II.
Show all 13 1 /13Films to get excited about in 2017 Films to get excited about in 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita Nyong'o
Plot: No details yet, but it will continue directly on from Rey coming face-to-face with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens.
Release Date: 15 December 2017
Films to get excited about in 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, and Mark Ruffalo
Plot: Story details are minimal as of now, but Thor's third return to screen has already been teased to feature a loose adaptation of the famous 'Planet Hulk' storyline.
Release Date: 27 October 2017
Films to get excited about in 2017 You Were Never Really Here Director: Lynne Ramsay
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola
Plot: A war veteran's attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring goes horribly wrong.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 Annihilation Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac
Plot: A biologist's husband disappears. She thus puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not quite find what she's expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 Wonderstruck (image from Far From Heaven) Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Amy Hargreaves
Plot: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 Mother (image of Darren Aronofsky) Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, and Ed Harris
Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (image from The Lobster) Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Alicia Silverstone
Plot: A surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto
Plot: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
Release Date: 6 October 2017
Films to get excited about in 2017 Lady Bird (image of director Greta Gerwig) Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges
Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (image of director Steven Spielberg and star Mark Rylance) Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Mark Rylance, Oscar Isaac
Plot: The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents' struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 How to Talk to Girls at Parties Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, and Nicole Kidman
Plot: An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon.
Release Date: Unknown
Films to get excited about in 2017 The Dark Tower Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Taylor
Plot: Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.
Release Date: 28 July 2017
Films to get excited about in 2017 Suburbicon Director: George Clooney
Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac
Plot: A crime mystery set in the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, where the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and betrayal.
Release Date: 24 November
It'll be released in cinemas on 22 July.
Styles released his debut solo single “Sign of the Times” just last week - you can read our review of the track here .
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