Revenge drama Out Of The Furnace has enjoyed a fast rise among the big names of Hollywood. Brad Ingelsby’s spec script (back when it was called The Low Dweller in 2008) immediately hit the radar of Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio. While they’re no longer directly involved aside from producing, the film now has a director in Crazy Heart**’s Scott Cooper and a star, with Christian Bale hopping aboard.
Furnace follows a man released from prison after serving four years. While he initially hopes to stick to the straight and narrow and enjoy some peace and quiet, his hopes don't quite square with his plan to find out who murdered his younger brother and avenge his death.
This is not the first time Bale has been associated with the project, though 2009’s connection was a little further under the radar: he was briefly attached when Snow White And The Huntsman’s Rupert Sanders considered making the movie as his big debut.
Cooper picked up the project last April and has been re-writing the script to suit his needs. Robert Duvall is circling with a plan to jump aboard, though there’s no deal in place yet.
Bale has a busy year planned out: he’s already down to shoot Terrence Malick’s Lawless and Knight Of Cups and there’s the small matter of a massive press tour for The Dark Knight Rises. According to the Heat Vision blog, he’ll squeeze Furnace in between the Lawless filming stint and his time spent chatting about Batman.
Of course, he'll need a villain to go up against, and according to Variety, Cooper is targeting Viggo Mortensen to play that role. And while he's still working through a wishlist for the role, the director is apparently narrowing the choice of who to play Bale's brother down to Casey Affleck, Garett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch and Channing Tatum.