We admit, it’s naive of us, but we’re still holding on to the slim hope that John Hillcoat may one day return to the now defunct project, “The Promised Land.”
Boasting a “remarkable, vivid and tactile” script by Nick Cave, the prohibition/depression era crime-drama centered around three brothers in a moonshining operation was initially set to begin shooting this past February with the likes of Shia Labeouf, Ryan Gosling, Scarlett Johanson, Paul Dano, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon all noted as talent who were at least once interested in the project (though if all of them were interested at the same time remains unclear, it’s very possible people like Johnson and Adams were both interested in the same role).
Sadly, however, Hillcoat announced at the beginning of the year that the project was suddenly stopped dead in its tracks; presumably over finances, even going on so far as to take a stab at the film industry in his reasonings, describing its current state as its “own apocalypse.”
But a profile on the talented Toby Kebbell in the April issue of the Australian magazine Total Film retroactively reveals that the actor was attached to star in “The Promised Land” as one of the leading males.
“There’s a film he’s hoping to do that’s written by Nick Cave and directed by ‘The Road’s John Hillcoat, playing opposite Shia Labeouf and Ryan Gosling as three brothers.”
While the current issues of this magazine does talk about the “The Promised Land” as an upcoming project, we’re positive it’s very outdated information as several features in this particular issue — an interview with Colin Farrell was still discussing Oscar talk for “Crazy Heart” for example — are obviously not at all in the cards.
But Kebbell’s would-be casting provides yet another painful reminder of the film’s collapse, leaving us to only wonder what could have been. The British actor will next be seen in Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” where he’ll play assassin John Wilkes Booth, Southern accent and all.
Hillcoat’s future prospects, meanwhile, potentially took another blow yesterday when Benicio Del Toro attached himself to play Joaquin Garcia in a Steven Soderbergh-produced mob-drama. This would presumably rule the actor out of the similarly mafia-themed Pete Dexter-scribed Joe Petrosino film which Del Toro was attached to star with Hillcoat helming. Surely, he’ll now just turn to his mini-series adaptation of BFF Nick Cave’s “The Death Of Bunny Munro” which he’s making for British television, but either way, we hope some feature-film length luck comes his way soon.
