Captain Tom Moore Biopic: 100-Year-Old British Hero Raised Nearly $50 Million For The National Health Service

Here's a story that seems almost too pure for this world. Captain Tom Moore, a 100-year-old British World War II hero who raised nearly $50 million for the U.K.'s National Health Service by walking laps in his garden during the pandemic, is getting a biopic.

Variety reports that two companies, Fred Films and Powder Keg Pictures, have jointly won a bidding war for the life rights of former British Army Captain Tom Moore, and they've fast-tracked a feature film that's intended to shoot sometime next year. James Spring, Nick Moorcroft, and Meg Leonard will produce, with Moorcroft and Leonard writing the script. No director is in place yet.

At 100 years old, Moore hoped to raise £1000 ($1,272) this year for the National Health Service by walking 100 laps around his garden using his walker in the time leading up to his 100th birthday. But his selfless act of charity ended up inspiring the nation to donate far beyond his initial goal, and when all was said and done, he had raised £38.9 million ($49.4 million). He ended up recording a hit single, "You'll Never Walk Alone," which went to number 1 on the U.K. charts, breaking a Guinness World Record as the oldest person to achieve a U.K. No. 1 track (beating out "It's Not Unusual" crooner Tom Jones).

If that weren't enough, he also broke another Guinness Record, raising more money than anyone ever has on an individual charity walk. The Queen even caught wind of his exploits and knighted him at a private ceremony at Windsor Castle in London.

It's all so painfully pure, sweet, and downright good – so much so that it almost feels wrong, somehow. This level of sweetness does not seem to fit in with the current chaos and ongoing disappointments of 2020. It's almost cringeworthy, in a weird way – but instead of cringing because it's difficult to watch, like the "Scott's Tots" episode of The Office, this whole scenario is cringeworthy because it reminds us that this level of selflessness and goodness is still achievable, even in one of humanity's darkest hours. It's easy to be hardened and overly cynical when we've seen how terrible the world has become over the past few years, but stories like Moore's come along and chip away at that shell, shining a little bit of light back inside and providing a beacon of positivity.

As for whether this film will just focus on Moore's fundraising walk or whether it will go back in time to tell his whole life story, that remains unclear. But the man himself has a couple of ideas for who could play him: "I don't know of any 100-year-old actors, but I'm sure Michael Caine or Anthony Hopkins could do a wonderful job if they were prepared to age up!"