It's almost surprising that Dustin Hoffman has managed to be a big star for so long, but never decided to direct a film himself. However it seems he's about to remedy this, as Screen Daily is reporting that he's teaming up with BBC Films to direct a movie called Quartet, which is being written by The Pianist's Ronald Harwood.
The plot concerns Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred, who are in a home for retired opera singers. However this year’s plans to celebrate Verdi’s birthday with a concert are not going to plan. Does that not sound like the most hideously British movie you could ever possibly imagine? Let's hope it's a bit more interesting than it sounds.
Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney are currently set to play the lead roles in the film. As you may have gathered by the title, there's also a fourth major character, called Jean, who's the one causing the problems with the celebrations, however as yet it doesn't look like this part has been cast.
Hoffman is taking over from Richard Loncraine as director, and while it does sound like the film could be fairly tedious, the actors are great and it'll be interesting to see how Dustin measures up as a director.