Zlatan Ibrahimovic has more than one string to his bow. Footballer, black belt, and now an actor, the Swedish international has been chosen to play in the next Asterix.
The casting of Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire (formerly known as Asterix and Obelix: Silk Road), is finalized with the presence of the one and only Zlatan Ibrahimovic to play the role of Antivirus .
The AC Milan striker made the announcement on Thursday on his Instagram account, posting a photo of his character’s name.
The cameras should be rolling this spring, with actors including Guillaume Canet as Asterix, Gilles Lellouche as Obelix, Vincent Cassel will play César, and Marion Cotillard will be Cleopatra.
Philippe Mechelen and Julien Hervé wrote the screenplay, and Guillaume Canet also directs. The project is produced by Trésor Films, Pathé Films and Les Enfants Terribles. The score will come from French musician Matthieu Chedid. The initial project was to shoot in China but production will take place in France and Morocco.
Distributors include Pathé in France and Switzerland, Leonine in Germany, Kinoswiat in Poland, Unicorn in the CIS and Baltic countries, Blitz for the former Yugoslavia, Rosebud for Greece and Netflix in a handful of unnamed markets. Netflix is separately developing a series based on the popular story of the adventures of Asterix and Obelix.