It appears Tom Hardy has quite a passion for bringing to light the horrors of animal trafficking. Earlier this summer we heard news of an anti-poaching film developed by Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tobey Maguire in the style of Traffic. Well, we now have news that Hardy is behind another similar film with Up In The Air‘s Sheldon Turner already working on the screenplay.
According to Deadline, this second film would star Hardy as a “former special forces soldier who signs on with a friend to work in the bush, training rangers to fight off the poachers decimating the rhino and elephant populations in Zimbabwe. The soldier falls in love with the land, and the animals he is trying to save.” This film sounds much more straight-forward than the first, and Hardy reportedly was behind the idea as he found it to be an inspirational story to tell.
However, the first film isn’t dead. Warner Bros. is moving forward with the project, and although there is no writer attached, the trio of Hardy, DiCaprio, and Maguire are all eying roles in the film.
At this point I’m willing to see Tom Hardy in just about anything, and if he feels passionately about these films, then chances are they’ll end up being pretty good. That being said, the major problem here is I just can’t see Warner cranking out two films that are so similar, especially with one of the lead actors being the same.
Odds are, one of the films will be stalled long before production, and if I had my choice I’d say Warner should ax the second film. As much as I’d like to see Hardy in the solo leading role, a film with him, DiCaprio, and Maguire has the potential to be incredible. That being said, the film is going nowhere without a writer, and Sheldon Turner has proved he can pen a meaningful script.
We’ll have more updates on these projects as we hear them.
Which film would you rather see Tom Hardy star in? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
