You had me at “man overcomes his Neo-Nazi ways through boxing”; Twitch reports that Javier Bardem will co-star as a Neo-Nazi ideologue named Solis in Alacrán enamorado (Scorpion in Love) from Spanish director Santiago Zannou. The movie has been adapted from the book by his brother Carlos Bardem who will also co-star. Here’s the plot synopsis, directly from Twitch:

Julián is a young, angry Neo-Nazi. Despite being poisoned by hate, there is nobility in his soul. He will discover it in a boxing gym thanks to Carlomonte (Carlos Bardem), an alcoholic and a former boxer who once had it all but lost it. In the gym, Julián will learn to fight with rules. He will slowly empty himself of hate, and learn to love when he meets Alyssa, a young immigrant. Julián will have to take an important decision when his former colleagues (among whom Miguel Ángel Silvestre and Javier Bardem as Solis, the group’s ideologue) put him to the test.

Álex González will playing the lead role of Julián and Judith Diakhate has signed on to play his love interest Alyssa. Scorpion in Love is currently filming as we speak (well maybe not as we speak; they have to sleep sometime). I love the premise for this movie and I can already tell it’ll punch me in the gut (sigh) when I finally get a chance to see it. There’s no need to question whether Bardem will be tremendous in the role; not only is he a great actor, he’s a great villain and Solis sounds like the sort of complex baddie that he’s right at home playing.

So in short, all signs point to a knockout (sigh again), but we won’t know until it’s released next year. If you can’t wait for your dose of evil Bardem, he’ll be playing the antagonist in this November’s Skyfall, the latest James Bond film and a movie absolutely no one has been talking about all this year. Ahem.

Have you read the Bardem book Scorpion in Love is based on? Is it going to be as emotionally wrenching as it sounds?