Liev Schreiber to Lead Film Adaption of Ernest Hemingway Novel

Montauker Liev Schreiber has landed the lead role of the upcoming feature film adaption of Ernest Hemingway’s 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees.

The Ray Donovan and Spotlight star will portray Colonel Richard Cantwell, an American soldier deployed in Italy at the close of WWII who has just learned that he’s suffering from a terminal illness. With stubborn disregard of this grave news, Cantwell decides to spend his final days in the quiet solitude of Venice. There, he intends to visit all his old haunts and embark on the perfect duck hunt, but his plans begin to unravel. A chance encounter with a stunning aristocrat offers him hope, redemption and an escape from the horrors of war. Featuring vivid battlefield flashbacks, the story explores the classic Hemingway themes of age, youth, love and war.

Schreiber is set to star alongside up-and-coming Italian actress Matilda de Angelis (Italian Race, The Prize), Laura Morante (Cherry on the Cake, The Son’s Room), Javier Camara (7 vidas, Talk to Her) and Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties, Lili Marleen). Paula Ortiz (The Bride, Chrysalis) will direct. The crew also includes writer Peter Flannery (Funny Bones, Our Friends in the North), cinematographer Javier Aguirresrobe (Thor: Ragnarok, The Others) and production designer Benjamin Fernandez (Gladiator, The Others).

The Tribune Pictures film is set to begin production on location in Venice next month under local COVID-19 guidelines. Across the River and into the Trees is expected to be released in 2021.

The cast and crew have seen considerable changes since the drama’s 2017 pre-production announcement, which cast Pierce Brosnan (The Foreigner, GoldenEye) in the role of Cantwell, alongside Maris Valverde (Exodus: Gods and Kings, Ali and Nino) and The Gateway favorite Isabella Rossellini (Joy, Blue Velvet). The previous incarnation was set to be directed by Martin Campbell (The Foreigner, GoldenEye).