Sequel to Oscar Winning Film CHARIOTS OF FIRE Now in the Works

According to The Hollywood Reporter, an unofficial sequel to 1981's Oscar-winning film, CHARIOTS OF FIRE is now in production. The film stars Joseph Fiennes and Chinese actor Shawn Dou. Stephen Shin is directing.

Titled "The Last Race" the movie will explain "what happened to Eric Liddell (Fiennes), one of the runners that Chariots was based on, after he epically won his Olympic medal in 1924 and returned to China. Liddell, a devout Christian, was born in China to MISSIONARY parents and returned to the country to work as MISSIONARY himself until his death in 1943." The film will focus primarily on Liddell's friendship with a Chinese man, played by Dou.

Explained Shin, "It's an exciting, passionate story of two men's friendship and humanity in hardship." He continued, "In 2005, I first heard about this story, and wanted to make the film in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But because of the sensitive subject matter of Liddell being a MISSIONARY in China, and the fact that it has to be a Chinese co-production for it to be released outside of the quota in China, it took me ten years to start the film."

Production on the film is scheduled to wrap in August, and hit theaters in March of 2016. Read the story in full here

Watch the iconic opening scene from CHARIOTS OF FIRE below:

CHARIOTS OF FIRE told the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.

The film was conceived and produced by David Puttnam, written by Colin Welland, and directed by Hugh Hudson. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It is ranked 19th in the British Film Institute's list of Top 100 British films. The film is also notable for its memorable instrumental theme tune by Vangelis, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.