‘Machinist’ Reunion Complete With Scribe Scott Kosar Also On Board
We won’t make the mistake of calling Christian Bale‘s cinematic weight loss/gain history his “trademark” or “a gimmick” but the actor now looks set to reunite with Brad Anderson, the director of the film which arguably began his run of intense physical preparation for roles, “The Machinist.”
“I’ve got another project that Scott Kosar, the writer of ‘The Machinist’ is writing,” Anderson revealed to WeGotThisCovered. “It’s based on J.G. Ballard’s novel called ‘Concrete Island.’ It’s an urban survival story that Christian Bale is attached to be in.” This reunion will also mark a return to Ballard’s material for Bale (Spielberg‘s 1987 “Empire of the Sun” was based on Ballard’s autobiographical novel, and provided a very young Bale with his breakthrough juvenile lead).
Described as a twisted adaptation of the Venezuelan castaway survival story of Robinson Crusoe, “Concrete Island” follows the story of a wealthy architect who finds himself trapped in a man-made island between two West London motorways with only the contents of his car in his possession. What transpires is the degradation of his physical and mental condition which seemingly hints at more intense physical transformation from Bale.
So, what would be the realistic timeline for this project to come to fruition? Anderson told STYD that “Christian’s on board to do that when we can fit it into his schedule” which unfortunately probably means late 2011 at best with the actor lined up to shoot “The 13 Women Of Nanjing” with Zhang Yimou before moving to “The Dark Knight Rises” with Christopher Nolan this summer.
Anderson is also juggling a few other projects of his own, namely the serial killer pic “Jack” which already has Samuel L. Jackson and Liev Schreiber attached to star. The director revealed that the project was still looking to “get an actress that’s going to satisfy all the financing types.”
“I’ve got another one that I’m writing right now,” Anderson adds. “It’s not a horror movie or a dark movie, it’s just a historical drama set in the 18th Century about the first woman to navigate down the Amazon River in Brazil, kind of an adventure story really. Then a few other things.” Sounds like dude just needs to get back on his feet after his post-apocalyptic horror “Vanishing On 7th Street” limped away from TIFF.