Things are looking pretty good for Scott Cooper and his upcoming Out of the Furnace, as Deadline reports that the thriller may be getting Billy Bob Thornton and Forest Whitaker to join Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, and Casey Affleck in the proceedings.
The Black List script from Brad Ingelsby follows “Slim (Bale), recently from prison, who intends to marry his girlfriend (Saldana) but instead is drawn into a quest for revenge when his brother is murdered after getting involved in the gambling racket.” Affleck is expected to take on the siblig, who meets a “grisly end.” Whitaker will presumably play a “sleazy bookie,” while Thornton is being pursued for the villain.
If you really think about it, all of these roles seem perfect for the various actors. We all know Bale has the ability to play harder types and, although I’m not the biggest fan of Thornton, playing the villain seems only natural to him. On the other hand, I was a fan of Crazy Heart, and I’m interested in seeing how Cooper handles the more action-packed material that Ingelsby has presumably created.
Production for Out of the Furnace hopes to begin sometime soon, as Bale has been cast in back-to-back Malick films — the soon-to-be-renamed Lawless as well as Knight of Cups — that are getting underway in the summer and fall.
Would you like to see Whitaker and Thornton join Out of the Furnace?