Emma Thompson to Star in THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON

SAVING MR. BANKS' Emma Thompson has just lined up her next role, according to Variety.

The acclaimed actress, gearing up for a brief spring run in the New York Philharmonic's production of SWEENEY TODD, has signed on to star in "comic thriller" THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON. The film, based on Douglas Lindsay's novels, was written by Richard Cowan and Colin McLaren, and marks Robert Carlyle's directorial debut.

Carlyle will take the tile role "as a downtrodden Scottish barber who inadvertently stumbles into serial murder, allowing his dark fantasies to become reality. Thompson will play his mother, a character who cheerfully emasculates him at every turn."

Ray Winstone and Ewen Bremner co-star.

Thompson is one of the world's most respected artists for her acting as well as screenwriting talents. She first caused a sensation with her portrayal of Margaret Schlegel in the Merchant-Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's Howard's End, which garnered many awards, including an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She earned two Oscar nominations the following year for her work in The Remains of The Day and In the Name of the Father. She went on to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for her adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee.

Thompson's recent film credits include Pixar's Brave, Men in Black 3; and both Nanny McPhee and its sequel, Nanny McPhee Returns, for which she wrote the screenplays and starred in the title role. She brought to the screen JK Rowling's character of Sybil Trelawney in the Harry Potter series. Other film credits include Henry V, Dead Again (1991), Peter's Friends (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Junior (1994), Carrington (1995) and The Winter Guest (1997), Love Actually for director Richard Curtis and Imagining Argentina for director Christopher Hampton. She has starred in three projects directed by Mike Nichols: Primary Colors (1998), the HBO telefilms Wit (2001, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance) and Angels in America (2002, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and EMMY Award nomination).