Ridley Scott has found his next directing gig. Deadline reports that Scott has signed on to direct The Counselor, based on a script by Cormac McCarthy. This project is on a fast-track to production and Scott has reportedly reached out to his Prometheus star Michael Fassbender about taking on the lead role. No official offer has been made, but a deal is very likely.
A May 1 start date is slated for the project that is described as “No Country For Old Men on steroids.” Scott will be meeting with a number of high-profile actors to star. McCarthy was expected to turn in a novel, but wrote his first feature script instead. A number of directors were interested in the job, but Scott expressed interest in directing in late January.
According to Deadline, The Counselor is set in the contemporary Southwest and is "reminiscent of the rough and tumble world depicted in the Oscar-winning adaptation of McCarthy’s novel No Country For Old Men. The protagonist is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe into 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 film is being produced by The Road's Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz. “The spec falls smack in the middle of what everyone responds to with Cormac’s novels," said Wechsler.
Steve Schwartz had this to say:
Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It’s a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy’s wit and humor in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy’s most disturbing and powerful works.
I am very excited to see Scott's Prometheus with Fassbender. This sounds like a perfect film for both of them, so let's hope he signs on to star. What are your thoughts on this news?
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Source: Deadline (http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/ridley-scott-commits-to-next-direct-mccarthys-the-counselor-will-michael-fassbender-play-title-role/)