Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth to film in Berwick and Holy Island

Nicole Kidman on the set of the film The Railway Man

MOVIE stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth will arrive in the North East next week to film scenes for a Hollywood blockbuster.

The Railway Man, based on the experiences of former prisoner of war and Berwick resident Eric Lomax, is to be filmed partly in the town and on Holy Island, next week.

A group which lobbies for films to be shot in the region last night said the shoot would have economic and tourism benefits for the North East.

The film is based on a best-selling book of the same name by Mr Lomax, 92, who was captured by the Japanese during the Second World War.

It is an account of his ordeal in a PoW camp after the 1941 fall of Singapore.

The book describes Mr Lomaxs torture during the building of the Death Railway between Thailand and Burma.

Years later, he set out to find those responsible for his torture, travelling back to the bridge over the River Kwai.

The mission was set up by wife Patti, whom he met on a train, with the help of a wartime colleague.

Oscar winner Firth is t! o play M r Lomax in the film and has visited him and Patti at their Berwick home twice as part of his preparations for the role, on one occasion walking round the towns historic walls.

Australian actress Kidman is to play Patti, in her pre-married name of Patricia Wallace, while Jeremy Irvine appears as the young Mr Lomax.

Principal photography began in Scotland on April 30 and filming is to take place over 10 weeks, initially North of the border, and then moving to Thailand and Queensland in Australia But it is understood there will also be brief periods of filming in the town where Mr Lomax lives and at Holy Island next week.

Dan Brain, communications manager at Northern Film and Media, last night said: It is another high profile production and hopefully we will see some of the locations that pull tourists into the region. .

Both on an economic and a tourism level, it is great to have such a high profile production taking place here. Mr Firth won the Academy Award for his performance in The Kings Speech.

He has also appeared in Mamma Mia!, Bridget Jones Diary and Shakespeare in Love.

Ms Kidman has starred in Australia, Moulin Rouge and Eyes Wide Shut.

The Railway Man, which is being produced at an estimated cost of $26m, is due for release in 2013.

In 2007, there was an amazing reconciliation between Mr Lomax and the son of the murderer of two of his friends. It took place in Mr Lomaxs home when Osamu Komai, then 70, travelled from Japan to apologise for the enormous suffering caused by his father, Captain Matsuo Komai, who was hanged as a war criminal after the conflict.

On an economic and a tourism level, it is great to have such a high profile production here