THE film maker and theatre director John Crowley is to direct a new stage adaptation of Local Hero.

The new musical version of Bill Forsyth's much loved movie, adapted by David Greig and Forsyth with new music by Mark Knopfler, will be directed by Crowley, whose films include Brooklyn, Boy A and a forthcoming adaptation of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

The stage adaptation of the 1983 film will open at the Lyceum in Edinburgh in March 2019 and open at the Old Vic in London in June of that year.

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Crowley is a veteran director of the stage, including The Present, Anton Chekhov’s Platonov adapted by Andrew Upton and starring Cate Blanchett, the London and Broadway runs of Martin McDonagh’s Tony-nominated The Pillowman starring David Tennant and the West End production of Love Song, starring Neve Campbell and Cillian Murphy.

Knopfler, founder of Dire Straits, has written many new songs for the show.

Greig, playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum, said: "God, this is exciting.

"I’m thrilled The Lyceum will be working with a team of this calibre to make Local Hero.

"John Crowley is a director on top of his game.

"From The Pillowman to Brooklyn he has shown himself a master of complex emotional material.

"I was recently privileged to see his production of The Present on Broadway with Cate Blanchett and it was one of the defining experiences of my theatre-going life."

Of the other members of the show's production team, he said: "Scott Pask is a visionary Stage Designer who is at home with an intimate play as he is with a huge Broadway musical.

"Paul Arditti worked with me on the crazy, surreal soundscape of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and Paule Constable has lit some of the most beautiful shows in London’s West End in recent years.

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Matthew Warchus, artistic director of the Old Vic, added: "It’s very exciting to see Bill Forsyth’s masterpiece entrusted to such a classy line-up of international creative talent."

The tickets for Local Hero will go on sale on May 1.