Luke Evans Attached To Star As Brigadier ‘Mad’ Mike Calvert In Espionage Thriller ‘Emergency’ From UK-Malaysian Label Sympatico — MIPCOM
EXCLUSIVE: Luke Evans will star in Emergency, a thriller series based on real events and set during a guerilla war that took place in 1950s Malaya. The Nine Perfect Strangers and Fast and Furious actor will also exec produce the series. It hails from Sympatico, the co-production label established in 2023 by Richard Johns’ Argo Films and Double Vision, the Malaysian prodco headed by Min Lim.
Sympatico has brought Evans on board the project, which is in advanced development. Min Lim is at MIPCOM this week to meet with potential partners and news that Evans is attached will bring some star firepower to those talks.
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The drama is based on true events during the Malayan Emergency, a guerilla war that took place between communist fighters and the Federation of Malaya and British Empire and Commonwealth. The story is told from three perspectives: a female Malayan Chinese guerilla fighter for the Communist Terrorists (CTs) trying to overthrow the British; a conflicted young Malay policeman, and the British army officer he reports to, a man who’s seeking a dramatically different way to end the conflict.
Evans will play Brigadier ‘Mad’ Mike Calvert, the closeted homosexual and highly controversial British commander in charge of the elite ‘Malayan Scouts’ leading the military response against the CTs.
“Mike Calvert’s actions in Malaya laid the foundations for the politico-military strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the people during war – a counter-insurgency doctrine used the world over ever since,” Evans said.
“He is one of the least-known yet most important and influential military leaders of the past century and it will be an honor to work with Richard and Min to help bring his incredible story to international audiences.”
In Emergency, the drama follows Evans’ character deep into the jungle, where he seeks to understand the rural communities that protect the enemy. He is in a race against time to protect his men and win over the locals before the British deploy a new weapon – the herbicide that will later be known as Agent Orange.
Sympatico’s Johns said that Evans’ “talent, intelligence and physical presence make him the perfect actor to bring ‘Mad’ Mike Calvert to our screens, while his passion for telling this fascinating, little-known true story makes him a valued member of the team as an executive producer.”
As MIPCOM gets underway, Min Lim said: “As witnessed with the recent ground-breaking Emmy success of Shogun, the world is ready for authentic, beautifully produced dramas out of Asia – and we are having positive conversations with various international broadcasters and platforms that fully endorse this.”
Evans is represented by United Agents in the UK, CAA in the US and is managed by Anonymous Content.
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