Mark Rylance joins cast of 'Waiting for the Barbarians'

Oscar-winner Mark Rylance has been cast as the lead in feature film adaptation of JM Coetzee's novel "Waiting for the Barbarians".

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "Ready Player One" star was rumoured to be attached to the project but has officially joined it now.

The novel, penned in 1980 by the Nobel laureate, tells the story of a magistrate (Rylance) of "the Empire" who is working in a tiny frontier town, doing his best to ignore an inevitable war with the so-called "barbarians." After he witnesses the cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war, he reconsiders his role in the regime and carries out a quixotic act of rebellion.

The film, directed by Circo Guerra, will begin filming later this year with principal photography in both Europe and North America.

It is financed and produced by TaTaTu, a newly blockchain-based social entertainment platform by Andrea Iervolino.