The cast for One Shot – a.k.a. Tom Cruise’s screen debut as Lee Child’s popular literary creation, Jack Reacher – continues to grow, and the latest addition is a fellow who’s far better known for being a director than an actor.
Meanwhile, director Ron Howard’s true-story racing drama, Rush, is also assembling its cast (though shooting on the film has technically already begun) and recently snagged a rising starlet… and, possibly, an Oscar-winner for a cameo role if Howard gets his way.
Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie is writing and directing One Shot, which aims (pun intended) to begin production soon – so as to make its early 2013 release date. Rush will probably ride into U.S. theaters (again, pun intended) by the fourth quarter of 2012.
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One Shot
Cruise has found his newest onscreen opponent and it’s Werner Herzog, the Oscar-nominated auteur responsible for titles like Aguire: The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans – among other man vs. nature and/or cult films.
Herzog is also known for being quite the character in real life – most would agree, he’s pretty much the very definition of the term “mad genius” – and Variety says that One Shot will be one of his rare occasions where he works in front of, rather than behind, the camera.
One Shot will feature Herzog as “The Zec”: a former prisoner of war who conspires to frame a trained military sniper for a seemingly random shooting spree. That is, until Cruise’s cunning ex-army cop (and deadly force of nature) Jack Reacher gets involved – and, with the assistance of an attractive defense lawyer (Rosamund Pike), sets out to reveal the truth behind this terrible turn of events.
People like Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, and Robert Duvall are rounding out the cast of One Shot, which reads like the sort of Noir mystery-thriller that’s right up McQuarrie’s alley (see: The Usual Suspects). If fans are likewise willing to buy Cruise as Reacher, then this could be the first in a new popular action franchise – one that becomes for the aging A-lister what, say, the Jack Ryan series was for Harrison Ford. Best to wait and see, of course…
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Rush
Quick question: Does the idea of TRON: Legacy actress Olivia Wilde playing real-life 1970s supermodel Suzy Miller – who was married to British Formula One champion racer James Hunt, prior to her hooking up with actor Richard Burton – require a stretch of the imagination? Yeah, we didn’t think so. 😉
Deadline has confirmed that the increasingly-popular starlet is onboard for Rush, which will also star the likes of Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Hunt and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) as Austrian driver Niki Lauda. Rumor has it that Howard is looking to get his A Beautiful Mind leading man (Russell Crowe) to play Burton – who, as he did in real life, ends up paying $1 million to cover the divorce settlement agreed upon by Hunt and Miller (Wilde).
Here is the official synopsis for Howard’s new production:
Set against the 1970’s golden age of Formula 1 racing, RUSH portrays the fast-paced and exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivalries the sport has ever witnessed – that of James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Brühl) and their illustrious Formula 1 racing teams, McLaren and Ferrari. A privileged, charismatic and handsome English playboy, Hunt could not be more different from his reserved and methodical opponent, Austrian born Lauda. RUSH follows their personal lives both on and off the track and charts their rivalry from its inception in Formula 3.
With a solid main cast, an often-fascinating real-life story being scripted by multiple Oscar-nominee Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), and some impressive technical talent such as Oscar-winning director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), Howard has assembled quite the capable crew. So Rush is very much a project to keep an eye out for.
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We will let you know when Rush flags down an official U.S. theatrical release date.
One Shot will hit U.S. theaters on February 8th, 2013.
