A star still on the rise, everyone in the business of motion pictures is hoping to get some Tom Hardy action before he launches into the stratosphere. The cast of his upcoming thriller, Child 44, might be a sign of burgeoning popularity: after filming has kicked off, THR tell us the actor’s Lawless co-star, Jason Clarke, is to board with a fun character description: “a snaky man named Brodsky” who Hardy‘s character, Agent Leo Demidov, takes as a traitor to the glorious USSR.
Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Snabba Cash) will direct a script from Richard Price — itself adapting Tom Rob Smith‘s acclaimed novel — centered on a Soviet police officer investigating a child killer run amok in the last days of Stalin‘s reign. Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Paddy Considine, Joel Kinnaman, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are also in the cast, while Summit Entertainment are overseeing a production backed by Scott Free Films. Expect a 2014 release.
Then there’s a different Tom Hardy — or Thomas, as he’s better-known. The 19th-century author is being adapted into film once more, thanks to Thomas Vinterberg: the Danish helmer — on something of a comeback high with this month’s The Hunt — has taken up the Carey Mulligan-starring title Far from the Madding Crowd, as first reported in September of last year. The Daily Mail have been informed of an expanding cast, reporting that Juno Temple will take a supporting role as “one of Hardy’s most tragic characters,” Fanny Robin, while Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone, Bullhead) has landed the part of Gabriel Oak.
Vinterberg expects Far from the Madding Crowd to commence production in September.
How do you think Clarke and Temple / Schoenaerts can affect their respective new projects?