After getting villainous in last year’s Skyfall, Javier Bardem has nabbed two more major roles, one seeing him in another actioner and the other in a promising drama. Coming from The Wrap, they report that the To the Wonder star will be leading the next project from Margin Call and All is Lost director J.C. Chandor, titled A Most Violent Year.
A period piece set in 1983, the film sees Bardem playing a successful businessman who is obsessed with maintaining his oil empire. The story kicks in when he and “his wife cross paths with high-powered lawyers, wealthy bankers, dangerous teamsters and a shady district attorney.” Production kicks off this fall in NYC for a likely 2014 release.
The other project is the next film from Taken director Pierre Morel, titled The Gunman. Set to star Sean Penn and Miele‘s Jasmine Trinca, the film adapted by Dredd helmer Pete Travis from a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette follows a contract killer, Martin Terrier, hoping to exit the business by marrying the woman of his dreams; this doesn’t go as planned and Terrier must get revenge by trekking across Europe with more and more blood on his hands.
In other casting news, The Wrap is also reporting that Guillermo del Toro has replaced his female lead for the horror film Crimson Peak. Originally set to be Emma Stone, the actress had to bow out due to scheduling issues and now Mia Wasikowska is vying to be her replacement. If talks go through, the talented Jane Eyre star would be joining Benedict Cumberbatch, Charlie Hunnam and Jessica Chastain in the film that follows an aristocratic family in a haunted house. Production begins early next year for a likely 2015 release.
Are you looking forward to the above projects? What do you think about the recent casting?