Margot Robbie is seeming to be poised as one of the biggest female stars of Hollywood at the moment if all the current movies and films she is either starring in or set to star in are anything to go by. Very seldom does a week go by that her name is not mentioned in a film that is either starring her or news of a new project she is working on (The Legend of Tarzan, Suicide Squad, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Z for Zachariah to serve as this year’s examples only). And that tradition will be continued as news has been announced that she is set to star in yet another film, this time as figure skater Tonya Harding.
Now figure skating is not exactly a big sport here in a country where we tend to freak out when the temperature dips below 15 degrees Celsius so that name might not mean much to us, but nonetheless her story as a talented skater who ordered a fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan to be beaten in the name of her athletic aspirations was quite a big story in the US in 1994. It also recently formed the basis of a season-two focus on American Crime Story, so it’s no surprise that the story eventually found its way to the big screen.
The film is set to be directed by Craig Gilespie who has most recently directed the mainstream films The Finest Hours and Million Dollar Arm, though is perhaps best known for his work in Lars and the Real Girl and Fright Night which offered up a more distinct and artistic side to his repertoire.
It will be interesting to see what type of film Gillespie offers up here if it is more of those former films or the latter or what aspect of the story they will focus on, but with a capable director and strong lead, it’s a film to look out for in the future. It is certainly offering up something different that the typical sports fair we are used to seeing and telling the dark side of one of the more graceful sports is certainly an interesting undertaking.
Last Updated: June 20, 2016
