New images for Arthur Newman starring Colin Firth and Emily Blunt

Arthur Newman, set to make its world debut next week at the TIFF, stars FTRC faves Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. The supporting cast includes Anne Heche and Sterling Beaumon.

The film is a feature directorial debut for Dante Ariola, while the script’s by Oscar-nominated Becky Johnston (The Prince of Tides, Seven Years in Tibet).

Lucky ole Blighty – Momentum Pictures has already snapped up local film rights.

Here’s the synopsis:

“We are all actors in one sense or another. Who among us hasn’t at some point longed to become someone else? Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) knows that longing all too well. Divorced, dissatisfied, with a young son (Sterling Beaumon) who resents him so badly that he won’t even talk to him, and a new girlfriend (Anne Heche) already tiring of his anomie and inattentiveness, Wallace feels he’s got nothing worth hanging onto. So he takes a step that many dream of, but few follow through on: he purchases the identity of a deceased man, fakes his own death, and starts a new life as Arthur Newman, golf pro. At last, he’s free —but free to do what?

Wallace meets Mike (Emily Blunt), or rather he finds her, lolling around a motel pool in a daze after having taken too many pills. Wallace takes Mike to the hospital, stays by her bedside, and the next morning tries to get her on a bus back home. But before he can send her on her way, Mike discovers Wallace’s secret — and decides she wouldn’t mind giving this second-life business a try. So Wallace and Mike hit the road, travelling across the country, breaking into empty homes and adopting the identities of the absent residents. It’s an outrageous way of playing house, and maybe a way of playing at love. Nearly getting caught only heightens the kick. But how long can they keep it up?”