A new film about a Roman emperor may be partly shot in Co Wicklow, it was revealed today.
Irish-based director John Boorman has already chosen locations in Spain, Rome and Morocco for his epic, Memoirs Of Hadrian, which begins production in early 2009.
But he has not ruled out using Co Wicklow's remote countryside which featured in his 1980s hit, Excalibur.
Hadrian is most famous for building the 117km wall that separates England and Scotland in the 2nd century.
Mr Boorman, who lives near Roundwood in Co Wicklow, said today: “We may film in Wicklow. It hasn’t been decided yet but it is an option.”
The director, whose previous films also include Deliverance, The Emerald Forest, and Hope and Glory, has lived in Ireland since the early 1980s. Mr Boorman is talking to a number of Hollywood actors who are interested in the lead role in the €40 million Hadrian project. He will co-write the script along with Rospo Pallenberg, who penned Excalibur and The Emerald Forest.
Hadrian built his famous Wall from 117 to 138 AD when the Roman empire spanned much of Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East.
Excalibur, which starred Nigel Terry as King Arthur and Cherie Lunghi as Guinevere, was filmed in woodland areas around Powerscourt and the Guinness Estate in Co Wicklow.
Boorman’s 1974 science fiction film Zardoz, starring Sean Connery, also involved shooting in Ireland.
PA