Christian Bale Once Again Set To Work With ‘Crazy Heart’ Director On ‘Out Of The Furnace’
Last year, beforeThe Dark Knight Riseshad fully shot, there was a lot of speculation about whatChristian Balewould do after his tenure as Batman ended. Turns out he planned a couple films with Terrence Malick, but another project that was mentioned as a possible one for Bale has reared its head once more.
We’d heard thatScott Cooper, who directedCrazy Heart, wascourtingBale last year to star inThe Low Dweller, a revenge drama thatBrad Ingelsbywrote and Cooper hadlatched on to as director. Cooper was also rewriting, and the project got a new title:Out of the Furnace. Bale had fallen away from the project late last year, but now he’s back in talks to take the lead role.
THRreports the casting, and puts out the synopsis that has been floating around for a while. That is, the film “centers on a man released after serving four years in prison. His hopes for a peaceful homecoming are thwarted when he sets out to find the man who brutally murdered his younger brother to avenge his death.” The original draft was set in Indiana in 1986, and while we don’t know if Cooper has retained the period setting, it is reasonable to expect that he has.Robert Duvallis also likely to appear inOut of the Furnace, though that deal isn’t set at this point. He would play the uncle of Bale’s character, who helps the lead on his quest for revenge.Varietyreports thatViggo Mortensenis Cooper’s choice to play the villain of the film, and thatCasey Affleck,Garrett Hedlund,Taylor KitschandChanning Tatumare on the shortlist to play the younger brother.
Relativity is financing and will release; Scott Free and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way are also involved. (Ridley Scott was once going to direct.) Variety does note that Bale isn’t fully signed, and that a lot of the other casting hinges on his acceptance.
