Tim Roth has signed on to Gerard Depardieu's untitled soccer film to play current FIFA head Sepp Blatter.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be released in theaters shortly before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The movie will be shooting in Azerbaijan, Brazil and France.
The film follows FIFA from its founding all the way to present. Depardieu plays Jules Rimet, who founded the World Cup, its trophy and was the president of FIFA for a long time. Blatter became president in 1998.
Blatter alone offers plenty of material for a film as he is known for controversial comments, on such subjects as women's soccer, race and homosexuality. Blatter also faces charges of corruption in FIFA as well as financial issues, yet he might still take a crack at staying the president when his term ends in 2015.
BBC News reports that Roth met up with Blatter, who said in a video on FIFA's website, that he's fine with Roth's casting. Blatter feels it was "well done" and the two have "common qualities."
Blatter commented that they had "a very interesting get-together" in Zurich. "I had read a lot of the CV and all the [films] that Tim Roth has made [and] I was very eager to meet him."
Roth will next be seen on screen alongside Nicole Kidman for Grace of Monaco.
image: Wikimedia Commons
