A couple of weeks back, it was announced that Ridley Scott had attached himself to The Counselor, an original script by the acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy with Michael Fassbender circling the lead role. Well Deadline now confirms for us that Fassbender has landed the lead role in the picture, which is set to go before cameras on May 1st.
This is excellent news for many reasons. Michael Fassbender is one of the great acting talents of the past 20 years. In just over 5 years the man has established himself as a diverse and awesome screen presence. He chooses the big blockbusters but also commits himself to deeply thoughtful and confrontational projects, such as the work he’s done with Steve McQueen, Andrea Arnold and David Cronenberg.
The Counselor seems to be an extension of his search to find projects that are interesting and not necessarily going after them because they make a shitload of money. The brief synopsis is as follows:
The story follows a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation.
The story is something very McCarthy-esque and on the surface it sounds very close to his own No Country for Old Men, beautifully brought to the screen by the Coen Brothers. They were directors suited to the McCarthy vision of the world, as is Ridley Scott.
Fassbender has clearly had a decent relationship with Scott having worked together on the upcoming Prometheus, and they obviously can’t wait to work with each other again. Like the work Fassbender did with Steve McQueen, Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender could prove to be a fruitful working relationship.
Ridley Scott and his company very quickly snapped this up when the screenplay went on the market, not surprising considering he has been chomping at the bit to do a Cormac McCarthy work for years. Many of you will remember that he was the first director attached to Blood Meridian, a book which I think should remain unadapted until someone says “let’s do it as a miniseries.”
The Counselor is set to move into production pretty rapidly as it edges closer towards its May 1st start date. Casting is already underway for the film’s villain, names being circulated are Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner. Expect to hear something on that very soon. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more on this enticing project.