Shia LaBeouf receives a lot of flack for his personal antics, and deservedly so, but there’s no denying that he’s a good actor and as demonstrated in The Company You Keep, he’s still a compelling screen presence. Today, Deadline is telling us that LaBeouf will be adding another project to his slate in the form of the indie film Villain.
Based on the Black List script by Josh Zetumer (who also penned the Robocop reboot), the film will follow “a man confronted and tortured in the mountains by his brother, who blames him for having his kids taken away by social services.” David Slade was originally set to direct but now Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, best known for 28 Weeks Later, will helm the picture.
The film will be sold at Cannes this week so we assume that more casting news will follow shortly. For now though, there’s no word on who will play LaBeouf’s brother in the film.
Already this project has me intrigued. Fresnadillo did an excellent job with 28 Weeks Later and although Intruders was horrible, he hasn’t lost all his goodwill with me, at least not yet. He’s an interesting director and with a strong script like this, we may see him deliver some more effective thrills and chills like he did with his sequel to Danny Boyle’s zombie flick.
As for LaBeouf, well like I said, despite his eccentric behaviour, the guy can still act. With films like The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and Nymphomaniac on the horizon, he’s clearly trying to stretch himself and break away from his previous persona. And honestly, that’s a good thing. I still enjoy his work and find him very watchable.
All things considered, I think Villain has potential to be pretty good. Admittedly, Zetumer still doesn’t have a produced screenplay to his name but his script did make the Black List, which should count for something.
What do you think? Does Villain sound appealing to you? Are you happy to see Shia LaBeouf leading it?
