AceShowbiz - Bill Nighy and Micheal Ward have replaced "In Bruges" stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in a new movie about the fortunes of a homeless soccer team. The "Emma." star and the "Small Axe" actor will lead the cast of "The Beautiful Game" for Netflix.

Nighy will play the coach of a team competing in the Homeless World Cup in Italy. Ward, in the meantime, will tackle the part of talented striker Vinny who is brought into the team at the last minute.

Thea Sharrock will direct from a screenplay by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Irish stars Gleeson and Farrell were attached to the film when it was a Fox Searchlight project.

" 'The Beautiful Game' is a film about succeeding against the odds," producer Graham Broadbent says. "Our film shows the joy, drama and excitement of this real life tournament and the enormous potential of people left behind by society."

"We've worked closely with the Homeless World Cup Foundation and our writer Frank has met many players from whose real-life stories he has created our characters, and we're happy to welcome many former players from the real tournament to be a part of the filming in Rome and London."

The Homeless World Cup Foundation's president and founder Mel Young added, "We are incredibly excited to be the focus of the upcoming film 'The Beautiful Game'. The Homeless World Cup is our contribution to tackling the homeless problem across the globe but there is so much more to do."

"We have proved just how powerful football can be when it is applied to a social problem and we will keep striving to do more," he continued. "We hope that the work we do being told in 'The Beautiful Game' inspires more people to join in and support future Homeless World Cups and together we can all aim to end homelessness forever."