Update: Shadow & Act reveal that “Franklin & Bash” star Garcelle Beauvais has also joined the cast.
Robert Zemeckis‘ return to live action filmmaking continues, and with “Flight” gearing up to take off this fall, the director has booked a couple more passengers along for the ride (okay, we’ll stop with the puns) with THR reporting the addition to two more thesps.
Penned by “Real Steel” writer John Gatins, the drama centers on a commercial airline pilot (Denzel Washington) who successfully lands a damaged plane and is lauded as a hero by the press. But it’s soon revealed that he’s an alcoholic and drug-addict, and may have been under the influence at the controls, leading to a cover up. Oscar winner and all around badass Melissa Leo is now on board as an investigator keen to expose the pilot for his negligence. Meanwhile, James Badge Bale — whose career has never been better since “Rubicon” got axed and is set to appear in a number of upcoming movies including “Shame,” “The Grey” and “World War Z” — will play a gaunt, dying cancer patient (we guess 50 Cent wasn’t available). We’re not how that quite all fits into the story just yet, but the pair join an already formidable cast.
Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty and John Goodman round things out for the film that will get in front of cameras very soon. No release date yet but you can count this pony in next year’s award season race.