It’s common knowledge in all quarters, but I’ll repeat the facts for those who don’t keep track: The addition of Mads Mikkelsen to any project instantly and irrevocably makes said project at least mildly interesting. If you actually need proof, all one could ask for lies in a story from Variety, which tells us that the Pusher II and Casino Royale actor will, along with Evan Rachel Wood, co-star with Shia LaBeouf in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.

This comes only a few days after we reported that LaBeouf would be leading the Fredrik Bond-directed, Matt Drake-penned “gritty pulp romance,” which revolves around “normal guy who falls for a woman who has been claimed by a violent crime boss.” Good timing on the casting; Wood will play Gabi Banyai, a woman that the titular character “falls in love with after her father dies on a plane next to him,” while Mikkelsen has been cast as “Nigel, Gabi’s violent estranged husband, who will stop at nothing to make sure the two don’t end up together.” Bona Fide Productions and Voltage will produce the film, and shooting begins this May.

You might have gleaned that I didn’t hold much interest in Charlie Countryman beforehand — you’d be partially correct, if only because I, more or less, look forward to where LaBeouf can take things in a seemingly post-franchise career. But, just add in the great Dane — as well as the respectable-but-I-don’t-have-much-of-an-opinion-on-her Wood — and we’ve got ourselves something I can start to jibe with.

Are you enticed by this newest casting? Does it put Charlie Countryman on the map, as they might say?