Christian Bale to play Dick Cheney
Weaving, Jackson reteam
NEW YORK, April 13, (Agencies): Christian Bale said Wednesday he will play Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s upcoming biopic of the former vice president.
Bale was last week reported as being in talks to join the film that will reteam him with McKay following 2015’s Oscar-nominated “The Big Short.” The Oscar winner confirmed he has signed up to star in the untitled film in an interview with The Associated Press.
“In the same way as it was a journey of discovery with ‘The Big Short,’ Adam was able to take a story that most people would go comatose listening to,” said Bale of the script penned by McKay. “His ability to make it startling and entertaining and intelligent without compromising anything — he’s masterful at doing that.”
The film is also to star Steve Carell (who also co-starred in “The Big Short”) as the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Amy Adams is set to play Lynne Cheney, the former vice president’s wife.
Like “The Big Short,” McKay’s film, which he’ll direct, is to be produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. Shooting is planned to begin in September, with Paramount Pictures expected to distribute.
Bale was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in “The Big Short.” He previously won an Oscar for his leading performance in “The Fighter.” He stars in the upcoming Armenian genocide drama “The Promise.”
McKay and screenwriter Charles Randolph won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Big Short.”
Bale
Benedict Cumberbatch is in early talks to star in Fox Searchlight’s adaptation of “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” sources confirmed to Variety.
David Bar Katz adapted the script. Donald De Line is producing the film, although a production date has not been set yet.
Entering
Based on Mark Seal’s book, the story follows Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, an imposter who conned his way into various jobs on Wall Street — as well as a marriage — by posing as a member of the Rockefeller family. After entering rarefied social circles, his past finally caught up with him and he feared losing custody of his only daughter.
Cumberbatch is no stranger to portraying characters based on real people, having played mathematician Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game,” which landed him an Oscar nomination.
Cumberbatch’s most recent movie, “Doctor Strange,” in which he played Marvel’s titular superhero, was one of his highest-grossing to date, hauling $677.6 million worldwide.
He is currently playing Thomas Edison in The Weinstein Company’s “The Current War” and is also on board to voice the Grinch in Illumination Entertainment’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Josh Brolin will play the key role of Cable opposite Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool 2.”
Michael Shannon had been the frontrunner for the role, but the studio and Marvel have opted for Brolin, who has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Thanos.
An official release date for the sequel has not yet been announced. “John Wick” co-director David Leitch came on board to lead “Deadpool 2” last fall after Tim Miller dropped out due to creative differences with Reynolds. The superhero sequel also recently cast “Atlanta” breakout Zazie Beetz as the mutant mercenary Domino.
“Deadpool” gave Fox its biggest hit of 2016 after opening on Valentine’s Day to $782.6 million worldwide, supplanting “The Matrix Reloaded” to become the highest-grossing R-rated film in history.
Cable, a.k.a. Nathan Summers, was often paired with Deadpool in the Marvel comics — the characters even had their own 50-issue series. In the Marvel comics, he was transported as an infant to the future, where he grew into a warrior, before returning to the present.
Cable’s involvement goes all the way back to the first “Deadpool,” where the foul-mouthed mercenary himself teased that he’d be in the sequel during the film’s post-credits scene. In the “Deadpool” scene that was shown ahead of “Logan” in theaters, a message written on a phonebooth read, “Nathan Summers cumming (yes, that’s the correct spelling) soon!”
Brolin will be seen next in Lionsgate’s “Granite Mountain” and with Benicio del Toro in “Soldado,” the sequel to “Sicario.” He also appears in George Clooney’s “Suburbicon” which opens Nov. 3. He is repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.
Reynolds acknowleged the casting of Brolin in a humorous tweet on his Twitter account a few hours after the announcement.
After tackling the realm of Middle Earth, Hugo Weaving looks to enter another fantasy world, reteaming with his “Lord of the Rings” director.
Sources tell Variety that Weaving has joined the cast of Universal and MRC’s adaptation of “Mortal Engines,” which Peter Jackson is writing and producing.
Hera Hilmar, Robbie Sheehan, Ronan Rafterty, and Stephen Lang are also on board.
Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens will co-write the film with Christian Rivers directing. MRC and Universal are co-financing the movie, with Universal also serving as worldwide distributor.
Jackson and Walsh have been involved with the project for several years, having optioned the rights of the Philip Reeves book from Scholastic in 2001. Ken Kamins — Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens’ longtime manager — brought the project to MRC.
Zane Weiner (“The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies), Amanda Walker (“The Hobbit”), and Deborah Forte (“The Golden Compass”) are serving as producers, along with Walsh and Jackson. Kamins (“The Hobbit” trilogy, “District 9”) will executive produce along with Boyens.
The book is set thousands of years in the future. Earth’s cities now roam the globe on huge wheels, devouring each other in a struggle over diminishing resources. On one of these massive Traction Cities, Tom Natsworthy has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious young woman from the Outlands, who will change the course of his life forever. Production is slated to begin in New Zealand this spring, and the film is set to bow on Dec 14, 2018.