Colin Farrell
Irish screen hunk Colin Farrell is being tipped to star alongside Jessica Brown Findlay in the forthcoming supernatural thriller Winter's Tale.

Farrell has reportedly been offered the male lead in director Akiva Goldsman's debut, playing the role of a thief who an very ill young woman becomes smitten with after he breaks into her New York mansion (because that always happens, after they stop screaming, right?).

Downton Abbey actress Brown Findlay, best known for playing the upper crust Lady Sybil Crawley (she of the one facial expression) in the smash hit ITV period drama has already signed on to portray the dying woman, the Irish Independent reports.

Australian firebrand Russell Crowe and Will Smith are also reported to have been cast in supporting roles in the period thriller, which is set in both the 19 century and contemporary times and is based on Mark Helprin's classic 1983 novel.

Shooting on Winter's Tale is slated to begin in New York on October 15 and who next stars in the Total Recall remake alongside Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsal, has not yet inked the deal which actors Tom Hiddleston, Aaron Johnson, Liam Hemsworth, Luke Evans, Benjamin Walker and Garrett Hedlund are also reportedly in the running for.