The news has been mixed of late for troubled Western drama Jane Got A Gun. Its casting issues looked to be behind it, but then director Lynne Ramsay left the film without warning on the first day of shooting after clashing with the producer. Then Warrior’s Gavin O’Connor stepped into wield the megaphone, and today comes the news that Bradley Cooper has agreed to sign on as the villain.
Jane Got A Gun focuses on the titular heroine (Natalie Portman) whose outlaw husband comes home shot full of lead and near death after his gang double-crosses him. With the criminals on their way to finish the job, she reaches out to a sharp-shooting former lover to help her defend the farm.
Joel Edgerton, who had been playing the leader of the villains, switched places to play the gunman when Michael Fassbender dropped out of that role before shooting kicked off. Then Jude Law was hired to be the big bad, but decided to leave when Ramsay did because he’d taken the movie to work with the Ratcatcher director.
So now Cooper will be playing the leader of the duplicitous gang, and another round of filming will be scheduled so he can squeeze in his stint on the movie after finishing David O. Russell’s latest, which is now shooting in Boston.