Simon Pegg Cast In Director Peter Chelsom’s HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS

British comedic actor Simon Pegg (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -GHOST PROTOCOL, PAUL) has been cast in the lead role in director Peter Chelsom’s (SHALL WE DANCE?, FUNNY BONES,) next movie – drama comedy HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS, it was announced today by Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel, founders and co-partners of The Solution Entertainment Group (“The Solution”) who are handling worldwide rights to the film.

Adapted for the screen by Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay from the bestselling novel of the same name by François Lelord, the film is a German/Canadian co-production produced by Egoli Tossell Film and Screen Siren Pictures currently in pre-production and set to shoot straight after Pegg’s THE WORLD’S END.

Pegg plays Hector, an eccentric yet irresistible London psychiatrist in crisis: his patients are just not getting any happier! He’s going nowhere. Then one day, armed with buckets of courage and an almost child-like curiosity, Hector breaks out of his sheltered vacuum of a life into a global quest to find out if happiness exists. More importantly, if it exists for Hector. And so begins a colorful, exotic, dangerous and hysterical journey.

Pegg has shot to international fame following his stand-out performances in SHAUN OF THE DEAD, STAR TREK, HOT FUZZ, PAUL and most recently MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL opposite Tom Cruise reprising his role from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III and Thompson in Steven Spielberg’s THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN.  Pegg is currently in post-production on the next STAR TREK movie currently untitled.

British-born Chelsom began his directing career with break out British films HEAR MY SONG and FUNNY BONES. These were followed by a string of romantic, feel good hits including SERENDIPITY starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, SHALL WE DANCE? starring Richard Gere and the award winning THE MIGHTY starring Sharon Stone. His last two films SHALL WE DANCE? and HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE enjoyed a combined worldwide box office of over US$ 325m.

On the announcement of the film Chelsom said, “I’ve been searching long and hard for a film that would bring me back to my European sensibilities.  Not unlike Being There and Forrest Gump, HECTOR is a contemporary love story, a fable wrapped around a very human hero’s journey. Nobody does the innocent abroad better than Simon Pegg: he is not only a brilliant comedian but a very touching actor. He is the Hector that you want to follow to the ends of the earth.”

This will be Chelsom’s third film with Academy Award winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (TOPSY TURVY, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, CASINO ROYALE). Award winning director of photography Hagen Bogdanski is also set to join the filmmaking team.  His credits include the Academy Award winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS, YOUNG VICTORIA and Madonna’s W.E.

Egoli Tossell Film is the Berlin based production company helmed by Jens Meurer and Judy Tossell and backed by Film House Germany.  This past year’s (co)-productions include Paul Andrew Williams’ SONG FOR MARION, Jon Baird’s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s cult novel FILTH and Ron Howard’s Formula One drama RUSH. Other recent credits include the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated THE LAST STATION, Olivier Assayas’ Golden Globe winner CARLOS THE JACKAL and Chris Smith’s BLACK DEATH.

Screen Siren Pictures is an established award winning Vancouver based production company that focuses on international co-productions. Helmed by Trish Dolman and Christine Haebler they have recently produced projects for Entertainment One, Alliance Films, Anchor Bay, Hasbro, BBC, A&E, ARTE, and Channel 4 their most recent productions include DAYDREAM NATION, FOREVERLAND, CLUE and ECO PIRATE.

At Cannes, The Solution will also be presenting a full slate of new titles to buyers including WRITERS currently in post-production starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly and Lily Collins, produced by Informant Media and Judy Cairo; the thriller GRAND PIANO produced by Adrian Guerra and Rodrigo Cortes and starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack; the thriller FELONY starring Joel Edgerton and the espionage action thriller NOVEMBER MAN starring Pierce Brosnan and Dominic Cooper to be directed by Roger Donaldson and produced by Irish DreamTime and Das Films.