Coming off The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Tom Blyth has landed the lead role in the upcoming adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel A Farewell to Arms.
The film is being written and directed by Michael Winterbottom (The Trip). Blyth will play Frederic Henry, a volunteer ambulance driver who is injured in Italy during the first World War and falls in love with his nurse.
A Farewell to Arms is based off of Hemingway’s own experiences in World War I as an ambulance driver with the Italian Army on the Isonzo Front. It is considered a classic war novel for its examination of the brutalities of war, particularly of WWI with the advancements made in technological and chemical weaponry, and the trauma Henry and other soldiers face due to their injuries. The book, published in 1929, is often considered the one that launched Hemingway’s career as a novelist and has been adapted into film or TV miniseries several times since its publication.
“As a long-time fan of Hemingway’s writing and Michael Winterbottom’s filmmaking, this is a dream project,” Blyth said. “Michael has adapted the book perfectly, with a script that captures all of the author’s unique nuance and precision. The examination of the human cost of conflict, and of love and hope trying to thrive within it, resonates more than ever. I can’t think of a better filmmaking team than Michael and Melissa to tell this story, and I’m truly thrilled to be bringing Frederic to life on screen for a contemporary audience.”
Winterbottom is producing through his company Revolution Films alongside the Fremantle-owned Passenger. Melissa Parmenter will produce for Revolution with Winterbottom and Passenger’s Richard Brown as executive producers. Winterbottom’s adaptation has also been given the greenlight by the Hemingway Estate, represented by Hemingway’s grandsons and daughter-in-law Brendan Hemingway and Patrick Hemingway Adams as well as daughter-in-law Angela Hemingway Charles.
“Hemingway believed in paring a story down to the bare bones. He argued that a novel could be like an iceberg: The reader only sees the tip above the water but feels the bulk and weight of what lies below the surface,” said Winterbottom. “I want our film to be true to Hemingway’s approach — immediate, raw and natural — and I think in Tom Blyth, we have found the perfect person to be Frederic Henry.”
“The family of Ernest Hemingway is thrilled to see ‘A Farewell to Arms’ reimagined for a new age,” said the Hemingway Estate. “Given the chaotic state of the world, it’s hard to think of a better moment to reintroduce his seminal story of love and the devastating effects of war. We deeply appreciate the passion and depth of understanding exhibited by Winterbottom and his team. They are surely the right people to breathe new life into Hemingway’s vision, and at a time when we, tragically, need it most.”
A Farewell to Arms will begin production in late-2024 in Italy.
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