It's amazing how quickly Motor City went from one of the hottest properties in Hollywood to being just another "meh" crime thriller. Chad St. John's script made the Black List of best unproduced screenplays, and the film had a superb cast at one point with Dominic Cooper, Gary Oldman, and Amber Heard. But all three are now long gone, with the equally "meh" Gerard Butler now in the lead role. Now after a lengthy search, a replacement for Oldman has finally been found.
Adrien Brody will play the villainous crime lord in the story, a vengeance flick that will have Butler as a man released from prison and seeking payback against those who framed him. While Brody can't be expected to match the psychotic awesomeness Oldman brought as the bad guy in The Professional, he should still be able to put in interesting spin on the character. Plus he knows he'll get all the juiciest bits, as the film's biggest hook is that the protagonist only has one line of dialogue.
Albert Hughes is directing Motor City, with production set to begin next month. [Variety]
