'The Last King of Scotland' revealed

Kevin Macdonald's new film about Idi Armin will star Forest Whittaker, James McAvoy and Kerry Washington.

Jun  2 2005

Kevin Macdonald ('Touching the Void', 'One Day in September') is to direct a big screen version of Giles Foden’s award-winning novel 'The Last King of Scotland'.

Rather than being an autobiographical account of the life and times of Alan Hansen, it is instead a political thriller about Ugandan President Idi Amin, who apparently felt a great affinity for the plight of the Scots through the years.

The story will revolve around a Scottish doctor called Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) who became Armin's personal physician in the 1970s and witnessed the rise of his regime first-hand.

Forest Whittaker ('Panic Room', 'Phone Booth') will play the former dictator, while Kerry Washington (the forthcoming 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and 'The Fantastic Four') has been cast as one of his wives.

Principal photography is set to start in the UK and Uganda later this month.

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