Ewan, the King

Madonna has cast Ghost Writer star Ewan McGregor in W.E., her upcoming sophomore effort as a director.

The actor will play Edward VIII in the movie, opposite Up in the Air Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga, who will portray Wallis Simpson, the American divorcée for whom the British Monarch famously abdicated the throne in 1936.

Abbie Cornish will play a contemporary character named Wally Winthrop in a parallel time line à la Julie & Julia. Her love interest, a Russian security guard, is yet to be cast.

Photo: ThomasCookMagazine.com.

Update 1: Madonna will be spending the summer back in the U.K., shooting W.E. – “she has rediscovered her interest in Britain,” which is making Guy Ritchie quite happy (because he’ll get to see his kids more often).

Update 2: Well, this is disappointing.

A rep for Ewan McGregor has said the actor is “not doing” W.E., after all.