There was a time when Gary Oldman was all about the wildly villainous, OTT characters like Leon’s Stansfield or The Fifth Element’s Zorg. And while The Book Of Eli recently saw him slip back into villainy, he’s usually found these days playing more placid types like Jim Gordon in the **Batman **films. But with Michael Winnck’s **Guns, Girls & Gambling, it looks like he’ll be enjoying the wild life again.
The film finds Christian Slater as a regular bloke who, in the middle of a heavy drinking session, stumbles upon (and enters) an Elvis impersonator contest. Oldman will play the competition’s top dog and Dane Cook will also crop up as a corrupt sheriff.
And that’s only a piece of the madness that ensues: according to the Heat Vision Blog, the plot involves cowboys and Indians, a 6-foot-tall killer, a frat boy and a prostitute all looking for an artefact nicked during a poker game at a casino.
But while it sounds like the recipe for a new take on** It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World**, writer/director Winnick has it planned as a crime thriller. Though we’re sure some blackly comic elements will creep in here and there.
He’ll kick off shooting the film next month.