Ewan McGregor and Sam Heughan to star in new movie Everest

Ewan McGregor will play the lead character in the upcoming film Everest, a mountaineering period thriller set in the 1920s.

McGregor (who also plays the title role in Disney Plus' Obi-Wan Kenobi) stars as real-life English mountaineer George Mallory, who takes on the challenge of reaching the "fabled summit" of Mount Everest.

Outlander star Sam Heughan and Mark Strong round out the cast, playing Australian mountaineer George Finch and "the arrogant Arthur Hinks... of the Royal Geographic Society" respectively.

The official synopsis reads, “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.”

Heughan described the opportunity as "once in a lifetime" in a post announcing his casting on Twitter.

"Excited to finally be able to reveal this project with an incredible group of explorers and storytellers," he said.

Helmed by director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity), filming is set to begin next year in January 2022 and will take place in both the UK and in Italy.

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