Richard Gere Joining ‘Arbitrage,’ Replacing Al Pacino
When we first heard aboutArbitrage, to be directed byNicholas Jarecki(producer ofTyson, co-writer ofThe Informersand brother of Andrew ‘Capturing the Friedmans’ and Eugene ‘Why We Fight’ Jarecki) there was quite a castlined up:Al Pacino,Susan SarandonandEva Green. But last month we heard that Al Pacino is no longer attached.
Now it looks like things have moved forward around somewhat, asRichard Gerehas been announced as the star, and the role for which he’s set would appear to be the one previously set for Al Pacino. We don’t know if Mr. Pacino’s schedule did not work out, or if he just watchedThe Informers, but hopefully the same thing won’t happen with his replacement.
Deadlinesays that Richard Gere will be “a troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.” Combine that with what we’d previously heard (“a hedge fund magnate who is in over his head and desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before his fraud is revealed. But an unexpected, bloody error forces him to turn to the most unlikely corner for help”) and the film sounds potentially intriguing, if not for the fact that it had that ‘written by the co-writer ofThe Informers’ tag.
I do like the sound of the film, though, and even the casting of Richard Gere. This could easily be a Michael Douglas role, but he’s booked for Steven Soderbergh’sLiberacelater this year. We’d originally heard that sales were taking place for Arbitrage last fall at the American Film Market, and it looks like the film is on track for an early spring shoot, starting in March.
