UPDATE: Risky Biz reports that no one has been cast so take the story below as a rumor.

DreamWorks Studios, which is releasing the film, indicates that the rumor is not true, and that while Spielberg is in fact casting the movie right now, he has yet to settle on anyone.

The Playlist brings us news today that Eddie Redmayne has been cast as the lead in the new Spielberg film, War Horse. War Horse is Spielberg‘s next project and is based on the childrens novel by Michael Murpurgo. The film is set for an August 2011 release and now we have news that Spielberg has found his lead in actor Eddie Redmayne.

I’m sure the big question on most people’s minds is who is Eddie Redmayne. Although not that well known, the 28 year old actor has a number of credits to his name. He’s been in The Yellow Handkerchief with Kristin Stewart and The Other Boleyn Girl. His breakthrough role came from Savage Grace in which he starred in with Julianne Moore.

This is an odd casting choice for Spielberg and I’m not sure how people will react to it. I’m guessing the majority of people have never heard of Redmayne. I know I hadn’t. I personally haven’t seen any of his work so I can’t comment on his acting skills. Spielberg knows what he is doing though and although it seems like an odd choice I do have faith in the director. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

The film revolves around a young man named Albert and his horse named Joey. They share a bond that is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalary for use in WWI. Albert, who is too young to enlist in the Army, heads to France to save his horse and it is there that the journey begins.

2011 could see two Spielberg films, with War Horse slated for 2011 we are also expecting the first installment of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn in December 2011.

What do you think about this casting choice?

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