I've not heard of the film Atonement before now, but the news that it is set to race ahead now that James McAvoy is signed up and the schedule of Keira Knightley is cleared is good news, particularly considering the plot outline.

The Hollywood Reporter brings us the news that McAvoy, best known lately as Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia, will star as Robbie Turner, a childhood friend of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley) and a man accused of rape by a 16-year old.

The story begins on one fateful afternoon in which Robbie and Cecilia along with Cecilia's younger sister Briony will find their lives change. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination. And Briony will have committed a dreadful crime, the guilt for which will color her entire life.

Interesting outline from Rope of Silicon and sounds like it could be pumped full of tension and suspense, and with the talents of McAvoy and Knightley and Director Joe Wright, it does sound like an interesting film.