With a director (Scott Cooper) and leading man (Christian Bale) now either in place or negotiating, gritty thriller Out Of The Furnace is pushing ahead with filling out the rest of the cast. If Cooper gets his way, Avatar**’s Zoe Saldana will take on a major role.
Furnace finds Bale as an ex-con fresh out of the slammer attempting to go on the straight and narrow. But first there’s the little matter of avenging his younger brother’s death.
If she signs, Saldana will play Bale’s ex-wife, who works as a waitress and is somewhat inconveniently remarried to the town’s sheriff. Robert Duvall is on to play Bale’s uncle and Cooper has Viggo Mortensen interested in the role of the villain.
Saldana is not the only person now being mentioned as close to signing on: Varietyis also reporting that Casey Affleck, who had been on the shortlist for the part of Bale's ill-fated sibling, is now the front-runner.
The script is the latest incarnation of what began life as The Low Dweller, written by Brad Ingelsby. With Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio attached to produce (they had originally considered directing and starring in the film when the screenplay first hit the studios' radar), Relativity Media is locking down the financing. While Cooper is looking to kick off shooting in the next few months, there are no solid deals in place with the talent just yet.
Saldana was last seen in Colombiana and has Bradley Cooper thriller The Words awaiting release. Of course, she’s most recently been busy reprising the role of Uhura for JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel.