Captain Tom Moore Biopic In The Works

100-year-old Coronavirus fundraiser to get biopic from the producers of Finding My Feet and Fisherman's Friends, which could be a perfect vehicle for Michael Caine or...uh, Clint Eastwood

Captain Tom Moore (CREDIT: Fred Films/Powder Keg Pictures)

                      by Jack Linsdell

During this pandemic, the press have (correctly) singled out more "COVID idiots" and rule breakers than anyone who represents anything somewhat "good" about humanity. But, amongst it all, one man stood out for his heart-warming and inspirational charitable acts, and became an international hero as a result. That man was Captain Tom Moore, a 100-year-old fundraiser who walked laps of his garden to raise a whopping $49.4 million for NHS England charities on the frontline of the battle against Coronavirus. And, like all celebrated heroes, Captain Moore is now getting the Hollywood treatment with his own biopic in the works. 

Captain Moore is not only a national hero in Britain (with a number one, chart-topping charity single and a knighthood from the Queen), but the figurehead to a news story that has attracted insane amounts of media coverage and public interest. So, it's no surprise that production companies have been engaged in a fierce battle to secure the rights to his life story. And, today, it was announced that British companies Fred Films and Powder Keg Pictures had won. Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and James Spring will produce the as-yet-untitled flick with Moorcroft and Leonard penning the script too. As yet no director has been announced, although with an expected 2021 shoot date, that might all change rather quickly. 

The apparently "uplifting" and "life affirming" biopic will explore Captain Moore's relationship with his younger family, who he moved in with following the death of his wife and an horrific broken hip injury. It will also draw from his incredible years during WWII in the miltary as a young man and his long fight with skin cancer, to show why he kept walking laps of his garden before his 100th birthday to raise money for charity. It's an inspiring and deeply unprecedented story, one which is going to be one of the first movies about the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Anyway, this is shaping up to be a good little movie, one which follows a recent trend of excellent, low-budget British films that have won over crowds with their uplifting poignancy. Moorcroft, Leonard and their Powder Keg Pictures company have themselves a exemplary track record, making the terrific Richard Loncraine's 2018 Imelda Staunton comedy-drama Finding Your Feet, and the immensely popular Chris Froggin-directed 2019 flick Fisherman's Friends. Both of those movies explored the challenges (and upsides) to growing old and being classed as an "OAP", but in such a funny, charming and crowd-pleasing way that it stands to reason this Captain Moore biopic will be good. Also, Fisherman's Friends was a true story too, so there's that as well. 

Low-budget British movies may be very good, but they're far from box office hits, if only because they only really appeal to those inside the UK. In the last few years we've had Lone Scherfig's sublime WWII comedy Their Finest ($12.3 million worldwide), Oliver Parker's Dad's Army ($12.8 million), Finding Your Feet ($15.5 million), Fisherman's Friends ($11.5 million) and Peter Cattaneo's Military Wives ($3.5 million). Heck, even Stephen Merchant's excellent comedy Fighting With My Family still "only" earned $41 million worldwide despite starring big stars (Vince Vaughn, Florence Pugh, "The Rock", Lena Headly) and being produced by the WWE. 

One way to counteract this would be the choice of whose going to play the lead. Captain Moore has personally joked that he'd like Anthony Hopkins or Michael Caine to play him, both of which would make very fine (and smart) choices. That's especially true for Caine, who when not starring in the latest Christopher Nolan blockbuster, is turning low-budget British movies into top-quality star vehicles. Although, the likes of King of Thieves ($11.4 million) in recent years prove that even he isn't a big drawing power on his own. Sure, "Michael Caine AS Captain Tom Moore" might be more of a sell but still. 

The other rumoured contender for the lead is...uh, American actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood. I'll be very, very surprised if Eastwood even knows about Captain Moore, let alone becomes attached to the project. But, if he did, he would guarantee the biopic a bigger international audience, more extensive media coverage and ultimately a greater chance at cracking that $15 million box office ceiling. What would also make Eastwood's casting ironic is that A) in the last twelve years he's only acted in two movies (Gran Torino and The Mule) and B) both those roles were very unflattering and morally questionable senior characters. Also, as a director, his last twenty years have been spent telling "based on a true story" accounts of humble American heroism, so playing a British veteran who insists he's not a hero would fit in very nicely. 

Anyway, regardless who directs the movie and who plays Captain Moore, it'll be interesting to see if this biopic can break the financial ceiling that most low-budget, British movies have. We can only hope that the huge international following of Captain Moore's story, being one of the first movies to actually depict/reference the current pandemic and it's alleged uplifting and crowd-pleasing nature can help movie the needle in terms of worldwide grosses. But, until the lead star is in place, we won't know for sure.