Variety reports that Sean Penn (Milk) and Christian Bale (The Fighter) are closing in on talks to star in the action-thriller, The Last Photograph, set in war-torn Afghanistan.
The film will be co-financed by StudioCanal and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle, who worked together on Unknown this year.
Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is to direct the film, which if I’m not mistaken will be his English language debut. The script is being written by Kurt Johnstad (300), based on an idea from Zack Snyder, who will be producing the film, alongside his wife and producing partner Deborah, and Gianni Numari (300, Shutter Island).
According to Variety,
“Penn would play an ex-special ops soldier who arrives in Afghanistan to seek vengeance for the murder of his brother’s family. He enlists a war photographer (Bale), the sole survivor of the attack that killed his brother, who captured the event in a photo.”
It’s interesting to note, however, that last month Deadline reported a slightly different version of the plot, one in which Penn would be,
“a retired ex-special ops soldier who comes to the scene determined to free a family member who has been kidnapped. The journalist agrees to help identify the kidnappers and travel the rough terrain to find them, in exchange for the story.”
It is possible that the story has been changed slightly in the past month, from being a rescue mission to a vengeance mission, and I’m not sure at the moment exactly which path the film will take. (If it is a vengeance mission, as Variety is now reporting, it is also possible that the article had a small typo, and the vengeance would be for Penn’s brother’s death, rather than his brother’s family’s deaths, but I can’t say for sure.)
Regardless of whether the story has changed from its original conception, I think the film has certainly got the potential to be something special. With such a strong cast circling it, and a proven writing, directing, and producing team, it looks set to be another success for all involved. Production is set to begin next year, once Bale has finished The Dark Knight Rises, so we’ve got a while to wait until we see it. But The Dark Knight Rises is going to be utterly incredible, so I have no problem whatsoever waiting just a little bit longer for The Last Photograph.
