MOSCOW, October 24 (R-Sport) – Actors Gerard Depardieu and Tim Roth are to star as football bosses Jules Rimet and Sepp Blatter in an Azerbaijani-shot film about the history of world football’s governing body FIFA, Blatter and the Azerbaijani authorities have said.
The unusual project’s 2014 release date coincides with the 110th anniversary of FIFA and next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
FIFA president Blatter, 77, said Roth, best known for his portrayal of gangster Mr. Orange in “Reservoir Dogs,” was ideally suited to play him despite their 25-year age gap.
“We have some common qualities, or as I would say, ‘la chemie,’” Blatter said in an undated video on the FIFA website showing him meeting Roth.
“The age is different but for me it was surprising and I just said, for the movie makers there, to say that the casting was well done.”
Azerbaijani authorities said 64-year-old Depardieu, who was granted Russian nationality in January after complaining about French tax rates, will play FIFA’s founder Rimet.
The film will be shot in Azerbaijan, France and Brazil and called “F2014,” the Azerbaijani Tourism and Culture Ministry said in a website statement.
