Joaquin Phoenix may become part of the family for Jacques Audiard’s English-language debut, The Sisters Brothers.
Word comes by way of Deadline, revealing that the actor – who has also emerged as a frontrunner for the Jesus Christ role in Garth Davis’ religious opus, Mary Magdalene – has opened negotiations to board the period piece, itself set against the Californian Gold Rush of the mid-1800s.
Lifted from Patrick deWitt’s eye-catching and indeed award-winning novel of the same name, we learned late last year that John C. Reilly boarded Audiard’s adaptation as either Eli or Charlie Steers, the brothers at the heart of deWitt’s western. While Deadline didn’t disclose official details of Phoenix’s potential role, it’s safe to assume he’s in contention for the other sibling opposite Reilly.
Taking place in the Oregon of 1851, The Sisters Brothers “recounts the story of two brothers — Eli and Charlie Sisters — hired to kill a prospector who has stolen from their boss.”
Among the producers guiding that vision onto the big screen are Michael De Luca, Pascal Caucheteux, Rosa Attab, Alison Dickey and Reilly himself, whose production company snatched rights to deWitt’s novel prior to the film picking up a sense of momentum.
After wowing audiences with such efforts as The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Rust and Bone and A Prophet, Jacques Audiard is gearing up for his English-language debut with The Sisters Brothers, and it’s likely the period drama will inch closer to a production start towards the end of 2016.
