Cogan’s Trade just keeps sounding better and better. Firstly, it has been picked up by The Weinstein Company and is set for an early 2012 release. Now Brad Pitt and Sam Rockwell are already confirmed, which is enough to make me see this day one. Casey Affleck is all but confirmed, and names like Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Bill Murray, Mark Ruffalo, and Zoe Saldana are all hovering around the project. Sound good yet? Well today we get more casting news, Mr. Tony Soprano himself, yup that’s right, James Gandolfini is apparently in talks with director Andrew Dominik for a role in the film. Slowly but surely, Cogan’s Trade is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated films for 2012.
Based on the novel of the same name, the plot summary is as follows, according to Amazon:
[Cogan’s Trade] tracks Jackie Cogan’s career in a gangland version of law and order. For Cogan is an enforcer; and when the Mob’s rules get broken, he gets hired to ply his trade — murder. In the gritty, tough-talking pages of Higgins’s 1974 national best-seller, Cogan is called in when a high-stake card game under the protection of the Mob is heisted. Expertly, with a ruthless businessman’s efficiency, a shrewd sense of other people’s weaknesses, and a style as cold as his stare, Cogan moves with reliable precision to restore the status quo as ill-conceived capers and double-dealing shenanigans erupt into high-voltage violence.
The film goes into production on February 28th so expect a full cast list shortly.