You’ve got to hand it to Daniel Radcliffe. After the tremendous success of the Harry Potter franchise, it’d have been extremely easy for him to rest on his laurels, coasting by on the fame and fortune that those films earned him. We’ve seen many young stars do exactly that, but it seems like Radcliffe’s determined to turn himself into a legitimate leading man in Hollywood, and he seems to be well on his way to doing so – if he hasn’t already.
While the actor still does pop up in the occasional big budget flick, he’s also becoming an increasingly popular figure in indie cinema, his Harry Potter cachet allowing directors to secure funding for their weirdest pet projects. How else to explain last year’s excellent Swiss Army Man, in which his reanimated corpse farted its way through a movie that baffled and amused those brave enough to stump up for a ticket?
Now, he’s throwing himself into another interesting film, one that presents him with a very physically challenging role – at least, if the trailer above is anything to go by. We’re talking about Greg McLean’s (Wolf Creek) survival horror flick Jungle, which is based on the book by Yossi Ginsberg and chronicles the author’s real-life survival story when he was stranded in the Amazon jungle for three weeks in 1981.
As you can see in the footage above, Jungle promises to be an intense thriller in which Radcliffe must contend with the might of Mother Nature. The plot seems basic enough, with the former Harry Potter star embarking on a journey into the wilderness with a mysterious guide, before unspecified bad things happen and he finds himself alone in the middle of nowhere, wholly dependent on his intelligence and luck to survive. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before as far as story and structure go, but McLean looks to have crafted a truly compelling film here, one that’ll no doubt have us on the edge of our seats as we watch what appears to be another strong performance from Mr. Radcliffe.
Jungle doesn’t have a release date just yet, but for now, you can check out the trailer up above and leave us with your thoughts in the usual place.
