After a six-year filmmaking break due to his feature Nailed falling apart in the last stretch, with just two more films under his belt since 2010, David O. Russell has emerged as a director most actors want to work, and for good reason. Both The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook have not only been well-received, but their respective ensembles have also picked up some Oscars. Now, for an upcoming project, O. Russell is looking to team his two Academy Award winners (again).

First up, the director will momentarily begin production on his untitled Abscam project, which sees Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence all together for the period drama. Then last month we got the news that he will once again direct his Silver Linings Playbook Oscar-winner in the drama The Ends of the Earth, from Argo‘s Chris Terrio. Now, with Lawrence locked in as the lead, O. Russell is reportedly looking at one of his stars of The Fighter for this next film.

According to Daily Mail, Bale is being considered for the role of a powerful oil tycoon who has everything stripped from him after he is caught in an affair with his adopted niece (Lawrence). While he’s O. Russell’s top choice, there’s also some other top names being considered, including Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. The source says O. Russell wants and actor “who can get right under the character’s skin,” and that Bale is the top fit for this 1920s-set period piece.

Aside from Depp, the other actors have a pretty open schedule though, so perhaps another once could slide into the part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if O. Russell gets his way. Lawrence, barring any scheduling mishaps with both the next X-Men and The Hunger Games films, will be playing Lydie Marland, an educated, headstrong woman who was adopted as a girl by her aunt Virginia and uncle Ernest Marland. She later becomes their adopted daughter and eventually becomes Ernest’s wife. Urging him to raise workers’ wages and give them unprecedented access to medial care, she earns the nickname the “princess of the prairies.”

One can expect the Abscam film by the end of the year, while The Ends of the Earth could slide into theaters by late 2014.

Who would you like to see take the role of Lawrence’s uncle?

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