HE made his name as Mr Darcy and picked up an Oscar as George VI and now Colin Firth could be about to portray a Thorpe Bay businessman.

The hugely successful British actor is in the frame to play Michael Woodford, the man who tackled corruption when he was appointed boss of giant Japanese corporation, Olympus.

Mr Woodford, 53, was thrust into the limelight when within weeks of becoming chief executive of Olympus in Tokyo he uncovered large-scale corruption and links with organised crime.

His memoir, called Exposure, and published last year, is now set to be made into a movie after Ink Factory Films, based in London and Hollywood, snapped up the film rights.

Industry insiders claim Colin Firth is the front-runner for the lead actor role.

A spokesman for Ink Factory Films, said: “Ink Factory aims to make films that reach a wide audience while r e m a i n i n g uncompromising, with characters and narratives that are original, exciting and entertaining.

“The extraordinary story of Mike Woodford, who singlehandedly took on the might of corporate Japan and organised crime, fits that bill to perfection.”

Mr Woodford was managing the Keymed factory in his home town of Southend when he was promoted to the top job at Olympus.

But his investigations in Tokyo resulted in him being sacked and sent home.

His long fight for truth and justice ended in conviction of senior Olympus personnel and a £10million compensation settlement.

Ink Factory specialises in thrillers based on the sort of real life dramatic subjects that make headlines. The company is currently at work onAMost Wanted Man, about the barbaric legacy of the Chechen conflict. Based on spy writer John le Carre’s novel, it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe.