Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale Join Robert Zemckis' 'To Reach the Clouds'

The story of high-wire walker Philippe Petit has been told before in James Marsh's incredible documentary, Man on Wire. That film was based on Petit's own book, To Reach the Clouds, and now that novel is being adapted into a narrative feature with Robert Zemeckis at the helm. Joseph Gordon-Levitt came aboard to play Petit a couple of months ago, and now the cast expands with three big additions.

Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon (Mood Indigo), and outstanding character actor James Badge Dale (Iron Man 3, Flight) have come aboard the film, which will chronicle Petit's amazing 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Center towers. The always-busy Kingsley will play Petit's mentor, Dale his best friend, and Le Bon his street musician girlfriend.

Filming is set to begin this summer. [THR]

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt 'To Reach the Clouds' with Robert Zemeckis

Remember James Marsh's incredible 2008 documentary, Man on Wire? The film used re-enactments and archival footage to chronicle Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The film won all sorts of awards and ended up on a number of Top 10 lists, so it's no surprise that the story is being retold with a pair of big names attached.

Twitch reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in To Reach the Clouds, an adaptation of Petit's book to be directed by Robert Zemeckis. Coming off the high-flying drama Flight, Zemeckis is clearly in love with the idea of defying gravity and has been trying to get this film moving for a couple of years.

One of the cool things about Man on Wire was that it was constructed like a heist movie as Petit and a small group of confidants helped him plan the daring and very illegal act. Hopefully the narrative version will maintain some of those aspects. No word on when filming could begin but with Gordon-Levitt on board it could be soon.

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