In the works for a couple of years now — the project first surfaced in 2010 — Guillaume Canet‘s ’70s set thriller “Blood Ties” has finally come together, and it features one helluva fucking cast.
Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, James Cann, Marion Cotillard and Zoe Saldana (the latter two were tied to the project last fall) are now on board the very exciting project. And even more, buzzed about “Bullhead” star Matthias Schoenaerts has been offered a role as well (which would make a solid Hollywood debut). Co-written with the severely underrated James Gray (which only amps our excitement all the more), the film is a remake of the 2008 French thriller “Les Liens Du Sang,” (which also starred Canet), telling the story of two brothers, the younger of which (Crudup) is asked by his older convict sibling (Owen), to go back into the underworld to help out his family. The intersection of crime and family ties have been familiar territory for Gray, and Canet is a great talent behind the camera so this is shaping up very nicely.
But it’s not a sure thing just yet. Financing still needs to be finalized, but should that happen (and given this cast, how could it not?) the film will roll in New York City next month. Kunis and Cotillard will play love interests in the film, but no word yet on the other roles the cast members will fill. But fingers crossed that it all comes together — this sounds like a potentially great period piece, and especially with Gray helping on the writing end, will likely go deeper than other similarly-styled material. [THR]