Tom Hardy Will Star In Kathryn Bigelow’s The True American

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That seems to be the approach for Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow, as her recently announced film, titled The True American, will follow in the jingoistic-fueled footsteps of her past Oscar nominated successes Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker.

Based on Anand Giridharadas’ novel The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas, which was released earlier this month, the film tells the true story of a Texas native that went on a killing spree after 9/11. Even more central to the story is a Bangladesh immigrant who is on the receiving end of one of the attacks, but we’ll leave our synopsis recap there. Seeing Bigelow’s film without spoilers will be an event – if it packs the same wallop.

There’s definitely some heavy emotional source material to adapt, but based on the director’s fantastic track record while tackling dark subject material revolving around nationalism, this is one film to start keeping an eye on. The True American is almost guaranteed to garner Academy Award buzz, regardless of the yet to be determined release date.

While we don’t have an announced writer to adapt Giridharadas’ novel, the casting of Tom Hardy sets a weighty, intense tone for The True American. Most recently appearing in the single-setting thriller Locke, the UK actor has proven himself as one of the greatest talents working today – especially considering the minimal character interaction Locke presents. Oh, and if you’re worried about Hardy’s wry British lingo slipping out, just look back on movies like Lawless and Warrior – he’ll be just fine playing a Texan-American gone wrong.

Having not read the book myself – a true statement for most as it was only publicly released a few weeks ago – The True American sounds like engaging cinema. Bigelow has a handful of themes to play off of, such as false patriotism and post-9/11 fears, as this in no way will be an action/triller for Tom Hardy. From what I can gather, Giridharadas’ novel is about the consequences – not the action – and the innocent lives stuck in between.

Since information is limited at the time, this release is all we have to go off of, but if you’ve read the book, tell us – do you think Kathryn Bigelow is the right filmmaker for this project?