Goodbye Christopher Robin: Domhnall Gleeson to play Winnie the Pooh creator AA Milne alongside Margot Robbie

Simon Curtis' film will follow the family as they struggle to cope with international fame

Milne's real life son Christopher Robin's cuddly toys were the inspiration for his Hundred Acre Wood stories (Rex Features)

Domhnall Gleeson has been confirmed to play Winnie the Pooh creator AA Milne in a new film about the much-loved children’s author.

The acclaimed Irish actor will star alongside Margot Robbie in Goodbye Christopher Robin, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Vaughn and directed by Simon Curtis.

The movie will tell the story of Milne and his son Christopher Robin, whose cuddly toys were the inspiration behind the ever popular Pooh stories. It will follow Milne’s family and their nanny Olive as they struggle to cope with the international fame brought by the books in the wake of World War One. Robbie plays Milne’s wife, Daphne.

Curtis said: “I am delighted to be collaborating with Frank Cottrell Boyce to tell the remarkable and poignant story of the family behind the creation of Winnie the Pooh.

“We are assembling a wonderful cast, headed by two actors I am longing to work with - Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie.”

Gleeson recently starred as Captain Andrew Henry in 2015 Oscar winner The Revenant and as Saoirse Ronan’s love interest Jim Farrell in Brooklyn. He is currently filming Star Wars 8, for which he returns as General Hux.

Robbie will next be seen as Jane in The Legend of Tarzan and the Joker’s accomplice and on-off lover Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is yet to receive a release date.