Actor Guy Pearce, who shot to fame with the queer road comedy film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), will be seen starring in the upcoming political thriller The Price of Peace, directed by Anthony McCarten. He will be joined by actors Jared Harris and Merab Ninidze.
The film, centred around the 1945 Potsdam Conference, chronicles the historical meeting between the US President Harry S Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin as they huddled to deliberate about the future of Europe and the world after the war. With Pearce set to portray Truman, Harris will play Churchill, and Ninidze will play Stalin.
The discussion between these leaders is the convergence of their competing agendas: Truman wants to end the Pacific Wars, Churchill is set to face elections in the UK, and Stalin has set his sights on expanding the Soviet Union. This meeting also laid the foundation for Cold War politics.
The film will go on floors in London and Potsdam later this year, with a release expected in 2027.
Pearce's credits include LA Confidential (1997), Memento (2000), The King's Speech (2010), and Iron Man 3 (2013). He will also be seen in The Dog Stars, Ink, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert 2.
McCarten is returning to make a historical film after Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Theory of Everything, and The Two Popes. The film is produced by Raccoon Features, Muse of Fire Productions, Salloway Studios, Spark Productions, in association with Ingara.