Making the actorly leap from television to the movies, and achieving the success on the big screen, is no easy feat. Not everyone can make that transition, but Hollywood has really been hoping “Sons Of Anarchy” star Charlie Hunnam will be the next big deal. However, the track record so far has been spotty. His two films with Guillermo del Toro — “Pacific Rim” and “Crimson Peak” — both didn’t quite connect. While the former is getting a sequel, Universal hemmed and hawed about it for a while, and the latter clunked at the box office. And then there’s Guy Ritchie‘s “Knights Of The Roundtable: King Arthur,” the would-be franchise that was supposed to open this summer, but has been pushed to next spring. Not the greatest sign, but there are those who have faith in it. James Gray has him leading the upcoming “The Lost City Of Z,” and now he’s being eyed for a remake of a ’70s classic.
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Conversations are apparently happening to have Hunnam take Steve McQueen‘s role in a redo of 1973’s “Papillon.” Before you roll your eyes, the tale of a South American jailbreak by a man unjustly convicted of murder, and the counterfeiter who helps him, has a script by “Prisoners” writer Aaron Guzikowski and the producers of “The Wolf Of Wall Street” behind it. In the directors chair will be Danish helmer Michael Noer (“R“).
Still, McQueen and Dustin Hoffman are not guys that just anybody can replace, so we’ll see if Hunnam bites, and if so, who is selected to star alongside him. If it all comes together, production will begin this fall. Outraged? Think it’ll work? Let us know in the comments section below.