Sam Mendes to collaborate with Olivia Colman for Empire of Light

British filmmaker Sam Mendes will team up with Oscar-winner Olivia Colman for his next feature film project.

According to Variety, the romantic drama, in works at Searchlight Pictures, is titled Empire of Light.

The film is set in and around a beautiful old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s. The project marks Mendes' first solo outing as a screenwriter. 

Known for his critically-acclaimed features such as American Beauty, Skyfall, and Revolutionary Road, Mendes had penned his most recent film 1917 with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

Empire of Light will see Mendes once again collaborating with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. Notably, Deakins had won an Oscar for best cinematography at the 2020 Academy Awards for his work on Mendes' 1917.

Empire of Light will be produced by Mendes through his Neal Street Productions along with Pippa Harris

Colman is best known for her performances in Broadchurch, The Crown, and The Favourite, which won her an Academy Award for best actress in 2019.