Update: Oops, Pajiba was a bit premature on this one. According to reps of Snyder who contacted FirstShowing, Bale has only read a draft of the screenplay but hasn’t signed on in any official capacity.
It looks like Zack Snyder is ready to step out of comic book fare and try his hand at some honest-to-goodness dramatic fare. Sort of. Pajiba reports that Christian Bale is set to star in the Afghanistan war drama, “The Last Photograph,” based on an “original idea” by Snyder (snicker).
The film written by Kurt Johnstad (“300”) has been in development for a while and “revolves around a photograph that becomes the catalyst for a journey two men undertake through war-torn Afghanistan.” Sergey Bodrov (“Mongol”) was originally attached to direct back in March 2009, but now Niels Arden Oplev (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”) is rumored to be the frontrunner to direct the film. While we haven’t cared for the Swedish adaptations of the novels, they do have their fans and more importantly, from a studio perspective (in this case Warner Bros.) have made a good load of money.
However, when it might shoot is up in the air. Bale currently has the untitled Terrence Malick film tentatively set to shoot this fall and “Batman 3” lined up most likely for next spring. We suppose he could squeeze it in between the two films (while also doing promo for David O. Russell’s “The Fighter” opening in December) but that would make one helluva busy schedule. Could it film before Malick’s film? If things move quickly enough, that too is a possibility.
As always, this could be subject to change. But Pajiba’s Hollywood Cog has been on point more often than not and their news regarding Bale is apparently “solid.” The director’s chair isn’t quite set yet so don’t be surprised if that name changes down the line.
