Ewan McGregor joins 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' + 'Jackboots' to premiere at Cannes

Ewan McGregor has been cast alongside Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas in Lasse Hallström's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Written by Simon Beaufoy, the romantic comedy is based on Paul Torday's novel of the same name. The film is being sold to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival. A synopsis is below:

Dr. Alfred Jones is a henpecked, slightly pompous middle-aged scientist at the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence in London when he is approached by a mysterious sheikh about an outlandish plan to introduce the sport of salmon fishing into the Yemen. Dr. Jones refuses, but the project, however scientifically absurd, catches the eye of British politicians, who pressure him to work on it. His diaries of the Yemen Salmon Project, from beginning to glorious, tragic end, form the narrative backbone of this novel; interspersed throughout are government memos, e-mails, letters, and interview transcripts that deftly capture the absurdity of bureaucratic dysfunction.

With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters--including a weasel-like spin doctor, a missing soldier and his intrepid fiancée, and Dr. Jones's own devilish wife--Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the whimsical story of an unlikely hero who discovers true love, finds himself first a pawn and then a victim of political spin, and learns to believe in the impossible. [ComingSoon.net via Best of Ewan]

There are also reports that animated movie Jackboots on Whitehall featuring Ewan McGregor and Alan Cumming will premiere at Cannes.