Jason Bateman – rapidly becoming one of Empire’s favourite actors – has further cemented his post-Arrested Development career status by joining Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Kevin Macdonald’s conspiracy thriller State Of Play.
Bateman will play a reporter chasing a story in the big-screen, Americanised version of the acclaimed BBC series, which starred John Simm and Bill Nighy, and brought director David Yates to the attention of Warner Bros. and the Harry Potter producers.
No word yet on whether Bateman’s character will correlate directly with anyone in the BBC series, but we’d guess that he might be playing a version of Dan Foster, the journalist played by James McAvoy in the original.
It’s just the latest in a series of high-profile gigs for the excellent and charismatic Bateman since his brilliant Arrested Development was unfairly cancelled. Since then, he’s shone in the likes of Peter Berg’s The Kingdom (in a dramatic role), and will next be seen in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and then in Berg’s superhero comedy, Hancock, alongside Will Smith and Charlize Theron.
And in case you missed the early reports, Norton and Pitt – who have been cast for some time – will hope to recreate their old Fight Club magic as, respectively, a congressman whose girlfriend is murdered and his old campaign manager-turned-reporter, who heads up a newspaper’s investigation.
Empire’s increasingly excited by this one – State Of Play was one of the best BBC series in a long time, Macdonald is marking himself out as a director to watch, and that cast is rapidly becoming to die for. Now, if they could just find parts for original stars Simm and Nighy, that would be lovely. But don’t fret - we’ll keep you constantly updated on State Of Play’s, erm, state of play…