After lighting up the small screen on three seasons of FX’s freaky horror anthology series American Horror Story, acclaimed actress Jessica Lange has landed a supporting role in a remake of the 1974 James Caan-starring drama The Gambler. The film, which is also set to star Mark Wahlberg and Brie Larson, centers on a NYC English professor (Wahlberg) with a severe gambling addiction who gets in deep with villainous gangsters and ends up on the run. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will helm the remake, working from a script by The Departed writer William Monahan.
Lange will play the protagonist’s mother, a character described by Deadline as “rich and ostentatious.” It’s always a blast to see Lange sink her teeth into juicy, glamorous roles, as she’s been doing so excellently of late on American Horror Story, and it looks like The Gambler will give the actress an opportunity to continue that recent career path.
The Gambler is certainly a project to watch. With a terrific cast, skilled director and Academy Award-winning screenwriter on board, the potential for this one seems extremely high. Monahan’s writing was a a large part of what made The Departed such an instant crime classic, and The Gambler‘s grim story should give him plenty of dramatic weight to work with.
No release date has yet been scheduled for the film, which is currently in pre-production. Once the filming schedule has been nailed down, this one should move pretty quickly, so I’d expect The Gambler sometime between next fall and the spring of 2015.
Are you interested in a remake of The Gambler? Are Wahlberg, Larson and Lange the right actors to take on parts originally played by Caan, Lauren Hutton and Jacqueline Brookes? Let us know in the comments section!
