Kiefer Sutherland is reportedly in talks to star as the villain in the upcoming Pompeii, Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3D disaster movie about the 79 a.d. eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Rome.
The movie will star Kit Harington (Game Of Thrones’ Jon Snow) as a slave tasked with rescuing his lady love and his gladiator friend after the temperamental volcano begins with its shenanigans. Jared Harris (Mad Men, Fringe) plays his master, also his lover’s father, with Emily Browning (Sleeping Beauty) as said lover. If Sutherland comes on board he’ll play the Roman senator who originally enslaved Harington’s village and plans to take Browning’s hand in marriage. Naturally, Mr. Vesuvius has plenty to say about all that, and has no distinctions to make ‘twixt hero and villain as he goes about his work bringing history to life by emptying his hot nasty belly all over 2,000 poor, poor people.
Paul W.S. Anderson, some would argue, has yet to make a decent movie. Though his 1995 adaptation of Mortal Kombat is without irony one of my favorite films to this day, he’s steadily chipped away at the good will he earned back then with his series of Resident Evil pictures which by now, with a sixth recently announced, seem like little more than an excuse to keep his wife Milla Jovovich in work.
Still, the announced cast for Pompeii sounds so far like a solid group and though historical drama is always popular, the setting and slavery element in this case is sure to appeal to fans of Starz’s Spartacus which proved a surprise hit back in 2010 and is close to wrapping up its four-season run.
Sutherland’s no stranger to villainy, with memorable roles as far back as Stand By Me making the best use of his distinctive drawl for readymade evil. Since his starring role as Jack Bauer in 24 ended in 2010 he’s done pretty well, starring in Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and landing another regular television role in Touch, whose second season is to begin next month. Though there was a time when it wasn’t the case, these days Sutherland’s presence can really elevate a film and I’m ready and willing to give Pompeii, and by extension Paul W.S. Anderson, a fair chance.
How about you? Will you check this one out when it hits theatres?
