James Bond star Pierce Brosnan is set to play the central character in war veteran story “The Last Rifleman”, to be directed by Terry Loane. According to Deadline, WestEnd Films has acquired worldwide rights of the project and will be representing it to buyers at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The film follows a World War II veteran living in a care home in Northern Ireland who, on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, decides to secretly embark on an arduous journey to France, to pay his final respects to his best friend and find the courage to face the ghosts of his past. The film, penned by Kevin Fitzpatrick, is inspired by the real life story of World War II veteran Bernard Jordan who, at the age of 89, escaped his care home in East Sussex to go to France and made his way to Normandy for the 70th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings in June 2014.

Katy Jackson and John Leslie from Wee Buns are co-producing the project with Jacqueline Kerrin and Dominic Wright from Ripple World Pictures. “With the recent anniversary of the end of WW2, I feel the timing is perfect to tell this story, while an ever-diminishing handful of veterans are still with us to share their lives,” Loane said.

Production on the project will begin this winter in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland..