Since he decided to pull the eject chord from the Transformers franchise, Shia LaBeouf has been throwing himself into movies that, while they'll never make the sort of box office enjoyed by Optimus Prime and co, are probably a little more artistically satisfying. Now it appears he's getting back to a film he put on hold a couple of years ago, The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman**.
Ads director Fredrik Bond is on board to shoot Matt Drake's script, a pulpy romance with LaBeouf as the titular lead. Heading to Budapest to clear his head after his mother dies of cancer, he meets a mysterious Hungarian girl and falls for her. But there's a teeny complication: she's already been claimed by a crime boss and he's A) the jealous type and B) extremely violent.
LaBeouf joined the film back in April 2010, with another ad-experienced director, Dante Ariola, then set to make the film for Mandate Pictures. But scheduling issues kept the actor from committing and the company briefly considered going with Zac Efron instead. Now LaBeouf is available again, and Bona Fide Productions has made a deal with Voltage Productions to get the film up and running. It's no coincidence that Voltage just worked with the actor on Robert Redford's latest.
"After our fantastic experience collaborating with Shia on The Company You Keep, I jumped at the idea of working with him again on Charlie Countryman," said Voltage's Craig J Flores. "The spark in this amazing script, mixed with Shia's pure talent and Fredrik's masterful ability to create an elevated love story we just can't get enough of – will redefine pulp romance."
And Company is just one of the two films LaBeouf will be seen in this year. He's also got John Hillcoat's bootlegging drama Wettest County set for release.