Now that Djimon Hounsou's schedule has been freed up with the cancellation of Alex Proyas' adaptation of Paradise Lost, the West African actor is looking to fill up his 2012 calendar in a big way. While he's managed to find success in his own right, whether it was his breakthrough in Amistad or his Oscar nominated turn for In America, he's still probably best known for the films in which he co-starred opposite A-listers. In particular, Gladiator with Russell Crowe, and Blood Diamond with Leonardo Dicaprio. His next film sees him teaming up with Orlando Bloom in a Cape Town set thriller titled Zulu.
Hounsou and Bloom will play two Cape Town cops investigating the murder of a teenage girl whose father happens to be a member of the 1995 world champion Springboks rugby team. The case leads them to a particularly dangerous narcotics ring with deep apartheid ties. The film is based on the novel by Caryl Ferey, known for it's extremely graphic violence.
Jerome Salle is directing, adapting the novel with his frequent collaborator, Julien Rappeneau. Salle's name probably isn't all that familiar over here, but he was the writer/director of the French thriller, Anthony Zimmer. That film was remade just a couple of years ago into The Tourist, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
Orlando Bloom hasn't done anything worth talking about in ages, although he'll be looking to relive past glories with The Hobbit later this year. Hounsou is almost in the same boat, as he's really been taking movies beneath him for the last six years. Hopefully this will change that. [Screen Daily]
