The strife magnet that is Western action drama Jane Got A Gun has burped up yet another problem. No sooner had Bradley Cooper agreed to replace Jude Law as the film’s main antagonist than scheduling issues mean he has to step down, leaving Gavin O’Connor and Team Jane searching for yet another bad guy.
This time, the sticking point really does appear to be timing, since Cooper is currently at work on David O. Russell’s con movie American Hustle. When the Boston bombing and its resultant manhunt delayed filming, that shoved Cooper’s availability. Now, between completing Hustle and doing the press rounds for The Hangover Part III, he’s unavailable, leaving yet another hole in the Jane roster. According to deadline, producers Portman and Scott Steindorff are now looking at the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and even Sir Thomas of Hiddleston as possible replacements.
Let’s chronicle the history of this one for a moment, shall we? The movie finds Portman as the titular homesteader whose estranged outlaw hubby (Noah Emmerich) returns riddled with bullets after getting double-crossed by his gang.
With the criminals on their way to finish the job, our heroine contacts an old flame (Joel Edgerton) to help defend her home. Michael Fassbender and Jude Law are just two of the names that have exited the film at different stages resulting in cast switching, and original director Lynne Ramsay controversially dropped out the day shooting was to start. O’Connor took over and has been guiding the film ever since, but had hoped Cooper would plug the gap left by Law. Apparently, since the schedule had already been juggled to allow Cooper to slot into place, the team has until June to lock down a replacement. At this rate, they’ll be handcuffing them to the set to make sure they can’t go anywhere…