Arnold Schwarzenegger's fast and furious return to the big screen is currently getting underway. The former Governor of California has targeted director Kim Jee-Woon's "The Last Stand" as his first star vehicle since returning to acting, and he won't be alone ?�he'll have some very notable co-stars joining him for the ride.
Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and "Jackass" host Johnny Knoxville have boarded the cast of "Last Stand," an impressive roster of actors that already includes "Thor" star Jaimie Alexander, "300" villain Rodrigo Santoro and the inimitable Peter Stormare of "Fargo" fame. Also joining the cast is Harry Dean Stanton, perhaps most recently best known for playing the creepy Roman Grant on HBO's "Big Love," but forever in my heart for his ill-fated turn as Brett in Ridley Scott's "Alien."
No specifics on who these new cast members are playing just yet, so we can only speculate for now. The full press release announcing their involvement, as well as the start of production, is below.
THE LAST STAND COMMENCES PRODUCTION
Impressive Cast Joins Arnold Schwarzenegger In High Octane Chase Story
Santa Monica, CA, October 17, 2011-- LIONSGATE� (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, is pleased to announce the start of production on Kim Jee-Woon?s THE LAST STAND, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The announcement was made by the President of Lionsgate?s Motion Picture Group Joe Drake, and President of Production Michael Paseornek. The shoot, which begins on October 17, 2011, will take place across locations in New Mexico and Nevada.
Rounding out the cast are Zach Gilford (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), Forest Whitaker (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), Luis Guzman (CARLITO?S WAY, BOOGIE NIGHTS), Rodrigo Santoro (CHE, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS), Johnny Knoxville (The JACKASS films), Jaimie Alexander (THOR), Eduardo Noriega (OPEN YOUR EYES), Peter Stormare (FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI) and Harry Dean Stanton (AILIEN, THE GREEN MILE).
Korean action-suspense master Kim Jee-Woon (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD) is directing the film, which is based on a spec script by Andrew Knauer that was subsequently rewritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Lionsgate has domestic and international distribution rights, with the film having pre-sold well in several overseas territories prior to its production. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing the film through his di Bonaventura Pictures.
Schwarzenegger stars as Sheriff Owens, a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for one of the most daring face offs in cinema history.
Schwarzenegger, Knoxville and Jee-Woon are represented by CAA. Santoro and Stormare are represented by ICM, with Guzman represented by the Gersh Agency, and Whitaker and Gilford represented by WME. Stanton is represented by Bresler-Kelly and Associates. The cast deals were negotiated on behalf of Lionsgate by Robert Melnik, Executive Vice President of Business Affairs.
Thanks to Cinema Blend for the head's up.
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