No matter the amount of flack he’s been receiving for a lead turn in Pacific Rim, up-and-comer Charlie Hunnam has just secured a possible career-maker: the lead role in Triple Nine, which Lawless director (and the actor’s fellow countryman) John Hillcoat is planning to next helm. It’s a title which had been in the works with Shia LaBeouf taking the lead role, and — before he eventually departed, thanks to matters of scheduling — Tom Hardy & Guy Pearce, the lot of whom would’ve made for a big reunion from last August’s prohibition actioner. If the signs are being read correctly, this is almost entirely a new ensemble. [TheWrap]

And while any movement is a positive thing, it’s buoyed to entirely new heights when, you’ll see, Christoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett have been eyeing the project as their own new endeavor. For a better idea of who each will play, read, first, the following synopsis of Matt Cook‘s screenplay:

“A group of crooked cops planning a major heist realize they must shoot one of their own in order to get away with it. The lead character is an upstanding young officer who they choose as their victim.”

While Hunnam has been selected to fill Triple Nine‘s center spot, Waltz has been considered for the part of an uncle looking into these hoodlums; Blanchett, meanwhile, would appear as “a notorious mobster’s Lady Macbeth-esque wife who’s really pulling the strings behind the heist.” (Idris Elba is reportedly wanted to portray the heist leader — just as he’s “wanted” for every other Hollywood production — which leaves yours truly hoping for the most intimidating husband-wife pairing in 21st-century film.) TheWrap’s description would point toward an altered plot, wherein it’s simply criminals, not crooked cops, who are orchestrating the act — this is strengthened by the claims of a screenplay altered since prior reports  — but the character descriptions mostly fit what’s above, regardless.

Although it would sound as if a full ensemble still needs to be filled, there are hopes to have Triple Nine up and running before 2013’s end. With the team that’s being brought together, let’s hope Hillcoat can make that happen, thanks in no small part to the backing of Annapurna Pictures and Anonymous Content.

Does this cast make a good new look for Triple Nine?

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