Siddig To Appear in 'Kingdom of Heaven'

Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) will appear in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven alongside The Lord of the Rings' Orlando Bloom and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace's Liam Neeson.

Siddig's official web site announced the news and provided links to other sites on the highly anticipated film about the Crusades.

Set during the 12th century, the movie centers on a young blacksmith who becomes a knight to help fight Saladin, who is determined to conquer Jerusalem.

Bloom, who worked with Scott previously on Black Hawk Down, plays the main character, while Neeson plays his father.

Siddig will play Saladin's aide. Of the character, his web site said, "And he doesn't die!"

"I play Imad, Saladin's cavalry general," the actor wrote in the message board forum on the site. "It's a fun part...I'm not sure how much one can say about the character without ruining the plot line for people."

David Thewlis, who appears in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as Remus Lupin, will play a priest in Kingdom of Heaven, while Eva Green will portray the princess with whom Bloom's character falls in love.

The screenplay is written by William Monahan. Director Scott, a three-time Academy Award nominee for Black Hawk Down, Gladiator and Thelma and Louise, is well known to genre audiences for such films as Blade Runner and Alien.

Production on Kingdom of Heaven was scheduled to begin this week in Morocco with additional shooting in Spain. The film's budget is approximately $110 million. It is currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2005.

Additional information and links are available at Sid City.

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