The Playlist is reporting that French actor Niels Arestrup, star of Jacques Audiard‘s Oscar-nominated A Prophet, has joined Joe Wright‘s (Atonement, The Soloist) upcoming thriller Hanna. Arestrup joins an already impressive cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, The Lovely Bones) in the title role. Ronan‘s Hanna is a 14-year-old raised by her father to become a killing machine. The report suggests that Arestrup will play the head of a French family that befriends Hanna, while Bana will portray the girl’s father.
The film is scheduled to start shooting as soon as next week, and will take place in many locations including Finland, Bavaria, Morocco, and Berlin. The script comes courtesy of first-time writer Seth Lochhead. Although Wright‘s The Soloist was an immense disappointment, he has done enough as a filmmaker to warrant my interest.
Hanna will be released by Focus Features sometime in 2011. Are you looking forward to it?