Jonathan Rhys Meyers will be Pearse for The Rising 1916 movie

Next year marks the centenary of the 1916 rising, with a huge number of events planned to celebrate the beginning of the march towards the emancipation of Ireland. That will also include work on the big and small screen.

The latest news is that Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has joined the cast of The Rising to play the part of Pádraig Pearse, the poet, writer and partisan who became one of the leading figures in the rebellion. The film focuses on the story from the perspective of Seán MacDiarmada, the revolutionary leader who put all the pieces in place for the Rising.

He’ll be played by Merlin actor Colin Morgan in the film, which also stars Micheál Neeson (Liam’s son) as Michael Collins. Fiona Shaw has also been recently cast as Countess Markievicz. It’s an interesting cast certainly with plenty of Irish heritage but the film isn’t quite ready to go yet. Co-writer and producer Kevin McCann is still trying to get the funds together to bring it to the big screen, on a budget of around €2.5.

Adding a name like Jonathan Rhys Meyers to the cast might help with that effort but it’s pretty obvious this film won’t be in cinemas for the anniversary of the Rising itself, which might be a bit of a missed marketing opportunity.

More news as we get it.