Tom Hardy Attached To Produce And Star In New Line’s Comic Book Adaptation 100 Bullets

For the longest time, reports have been doing the rounds linking Tom Hardy with a role in a DC property. After the Mad Max: Fury Road star pulled out of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad due to his commitment to The Revenant, fans had stipulated that the British actor could be in line for another superhero flick of the same calibre. But today, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that project to be an adaptation of Vertigo comic 100 Bullets.

Lifted from Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s acclaimed comic book of the same name, the report states that Hardy is in line to produce and star in the picture, which has set up shop at New Line. It’s understood that the studio has already made a fair chunk of progress on its big-screen rendition of 100 Bullets, having hired Chris Borrelli to pen an early draft of the script, which was seemingly good enough to attract the eye of Hardy, the busy bee that he is.

Running for 100 issues – figure that – Azzarello and Risso’s gritty noir centers around the enigmatic Agent Graves, who spontaneously appears at random to citizens and offers them a loaded gun and the name of the person who ruined their lives. Armed with 100 bullets of untraceable information, Graves’ character is like a lazy grim reaper offering regular Joes the chance to carry out the perfect crime.

At one point, DC had considered to push 100 Bullets forward as a television series under Batman Begins and Man of Steel scribe David S. Goyer. Alas, it appears New Line has unearthed a kernel of an idea for a bona fide comic book blockbuster with Hardy at the helm. Will the actor be stepping into the shoes of Agent Graves? Time will tell.

No word yet on a director or other casting news for New Line’s 100 Bullets pic, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as this story develops. Until then, here’s a synopsis of Azzarello and Risso’s award-winning comic series.

100 Bullets is based on the question of people willing to act on the desire of violent revenge if given the means, opportunity, and a reasonable chance to succeed. Many of the first issues involve the mysterious Agent Graves approaching someone who has been a victim of a terrible wrong. Graves gives them the opportunity to take revenge by providing a handgun, 100 bullets, and documentation about the primary target responsible for their woes. He informs the candidate the bullets are completely untraceable by any law enforcement investigation, and as soon as they are found at any crime scene investigations will immediately cease.