Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth and producer Andrew Upton have signed on as executive producers of The Present Times, the third feature from writer-director Noah Stratton-Twine, which wrapped principal photography in London this May. Variety revealed the full creative team and cast on 6 August 2026.

Roth's credits stretch across decades of Hollywood prestige, from Forrest Gump to Dune: Part Two. Upton co-owns the production company Dirty Films with Cate Blanchett. They join fellow executive producers Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Anne Peters on the project.

The film pairs Daniel Weyman and Nick Helm as Roy and Ian, two embittered paparazzi navigating the London streets. Weyman is currently known to global audiences as Gandalf in Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Helm is a standup comedian and actor best known for the BBC sitcom Uncle.

Stratton-Twine wrote, directed, edited and scored The Present Times — his third time wearing all four hats on a single feature. He describes the film as an ode to Britain's tradition of championing character actors and to London as a diverse cinematic city. His previous work includes Two Big Feet, his debut feature starring Luke Rollason, who returns here as part of the ensemble. A film Stratton-Twine co-directed, The Peril at Pincer Point, received the Neon Auteur Award at SXSW 2026.

The supporting cast reads like a who's-who of British acting talent. Paul Kaye, Raffey Cassidy, Emma McDonald and Jay Simpson fill out the principal roles, alongside Ada Player, Os Leanse, Ivy Freeman-Attwood, Nish Nathwani and Rollason. A further round of names — Kim Durham, Anna Acton, Bron Weigh, Richard Keep, Corinna Marlowe, Ignatius Upton, Andrew Upton himself, Andi Da Silva, Andre Lillis, Oxa Hazel, Sabira Stanisavljevic, Kenichiro Thomson and Jack Redmayne — rounds out the ensemble.

Behind the camera, the film is produced by Dashiell Upton, Lev Petrov, Jake Kuhn and Timofey Stolov through the production companies Right Off Films and Gittes-Cross Pictures. Murray Zev Cohen serves as cinematographer, marking his third collaboration with Stratton-Twine. Casting was handled by Marta Nogeura.

For a filmmaker three features into a career that already carries an SXSW trophy, landing executive producers of Roth's and Upton's stature signals that The Present Times is being positioned for a marketplace run — the festival circuit and sales agents that determine which films reach audiences beyond their country of production. No distribution deal has been announced.