MOVIE NEWS – Kevin Spacey, who has been on the back foot since his sexual harassment scandal, has confirmed that he will star in the historical drama 1242 – Gateway to the West, screened at Cannes.

The British-Hungarian-Mongolian co-production is Kevin Spacey‘s most prominent film to date since he was accused of sexual harassment and unwanted advances in 2017, one of the most iconic names to emerge thanks to the Metoo Movement.

Filming will begin in October 2022 in Hungary and Mongolia.

It also stars Eric Roberts, Christopher Lambert, Terence Stamp and newcomers Jeremy Neumark-Jones and Genevieve Florence. Veteran Hungarian director Péter Soós will helm the film, which has a screenplay by Áron Horváth and Joan Lane and is produced by Bill Chamberlain and Kornél Sipos.

The film tells the story of Genghis Khan’s grandson, Batu Khan, who was elected commander-in-chief of the western part of the Mongol Empire. As a skilled general, he won battles from China to Persia and successfully invaded Europe, but in 1242 the Khan is confronted by a deeply spiritual man and a castle in Hungary, Esztergom to be precise, where he is finally successfully stopped from conquering the West.

Spacey has previously been accused of sexual harassment by more than a dozen men, including Broadway veteran Anthony Rapp.

In 2018, Kevin Spacey was charged with indecent assault over an alleged 2016 incident with a teenager; the charges were later dropped after Spacey pleaded not guilty.

Kevin Spacey most recently appeared on screen in the 2018 film Billionaire Boys Club but is reportedly playing a small role in Franco Nero’s upcoming L’uomo che disegnò Dio (“The Man Who Drew God”) which was announced last year. The film is currently in post-production, according to IMDb.

Source: IndieWire