Deadwood – that astonishingly great TV Western – may have gone to that great big saloon in the sky, but the guy who arguably proved to be the star of the show, that cocksucking motherfucker Al Swearengen, has ensured that he’s since become anything but dead wood.
Yes, Ian McShane – the wonderful British actor who, for many, will always be Lovejoy – has used the momentum surrounding his performance as Swearengen to bag himself some movies. He can soon be seen kicking ass and nailing laughs in Andy Samberg’s hilarious Hot Rod (trust us; it’s Anchorman Junior), and today it was announced that he’s signed on to join the cast of Paul W.S. Anderson’s futuristic action movie, Death Race.
McShane will play a character – as-yet unnamed – who coaches Jason Statham’s superstar Death Racer, Frankenstein, in the movie, which of course is a remake of Paul Bartel’s 1975 cult classic, Death Race 2000, in which a group of drivers competed with each other across America, garnering points for every innocent pedestrian they mowed down in the line of duty.
Anderson – who told Empire at Comic-Con that the remake would be as brutal as the original – has assembled a pretty good cast for his movie, with The Stath (in a role that was originally earmarked for Tom Cruise, who is now content merely to produce, along with Paula Wagner) lining up alongside Tyrese Gibson as Machine Gun Joe (the role played by Sly Stallone in the original) and Joan Allen as an evil prison warden who forces Frankenstein to take part in the Death Race, which now takes place in an enclosed, Indy 500-style arena.
Obviously, Anderson had us at The Stath, but it’s the addition of Allen and McShane that has really excited us about this project, and will hopefully persuade Empire readers’ to place their inbuilt cynicism about Anderson on hold (yes, he did direct Alien vs Predator, but let’s remind you, people, that he has Event Horizon on his CV and until that is no longer the case, we will always have faith!). Proper actors who can deliver hokey dialogue with conviction and courage, their presence has legitimised Death Race somewhat, and we’re looking forward to McShane – with his leathery face and voice dipped in tar – interacting with The Stath.
The movie will start shooting soon, and is out next September.