Movies about Mt. Everest are pretty common. I think there are also quite a few of them with the simple title of Everest. Not very imaginative, but it’s also easy to wrap the brain around, with stories of men and women who risked all to scale the mountain heights and prove man can truly conquer anything he puts a mind to. Well, here comes another, and it’ll have Doug Liman directing an incredible trio of actors.
Liman will direct Everest, which will star Ewan McGregor as George Mallory, one of the most (in)famous alpinists to ever take part in the mountain expedition. McGregor is joined by Mark Strong as Arthur Hinks and Outlander‘s Sam Heughan as Mallory’s rival, George Finch.
The story will center on the 1921 Everest expedition, Mallory’s first before his ill-fated second attempt a year later. Here’s the synopsis:
1921. Everest remains the very last great unconquered challenge on earth. Many have sacrificed their sanity and often their lives in the attempt to reach its fabled summit. George Mallory (McGregor) is picked by the arrogant Arthur Hinks (Strong) of the Royal Geographic Society to scale the impossible. Following the First World War, the fading British empire is desperate for a restorative victory, but for Mallory and his rival, the eccentric Aussie George Finch (Heughan), the challenge of Everest has nothing to do with patriotism, instead it is a singular test of self. Climbing without oxygen, to heights not even planes can reach, Mallory‘s successive attempts to make the summit sees a challenge become an all-consuming obsession. It leads him to abandon his beloved wife and three children for months on end, give up his job, and push his body to the limits of human endurance. Everest becomes a very real monster for Mallory, his 45-degree climb to the peak is an inhuman mix of vertigo and nerve-shredding tension, requiring all of his fearlessness and audacity. It takes everything from him for reasons he can barely articulate: because it’s grander than him, it’s the last empty part of the map, and as he simply puts it – ‘because it’s there’.
Filming begins in early 2022, which is interesting because I don’t know if there will be conflicts with Liman and Tom Cruise’s action film that will send them to outer space. He’s coming off the attempted YA blockbuster Chaos Walking, and is known for directing Edge of Tomorrow, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Swingers, The Bourne Identity, more.
McGregor will be seen next in The Birthday Cake which opens this week. Strong was just part of the Cruella cast, while Heughan recently led action flick SAS: Red Notice.
