And the casting rollercoaster for the forever-developing "The Iceman" continues. At one time set to star the trio of James Franco, Benicio Del Toro and Michael Shannon, the first two actors have since moved on, and just a couple weeks ago the future of the project was being called into question. Well have no fear, Ross from "Friends" is here to save the day.
That's right, David Schwimmer has joined "The Iceman" and is taking on a pretty interesting role, one we've never quite seen from the actor. Co-written (with Morgan Land) and set to be directed by Ariel Vromen, the film follows the exploits of Richard Kulinski (Shannon), one of the most notorious mob hitmen, claiming over 100 kills while keeping his true identity secret from his wife and kids. Schwimmer will play the killer Josh Rosenthal who worked under mobster Roy Demoe, formerly set for Del Toro but now being played by Ray Liotta. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Kulinski's unsuspecting wife with Ryan O'Nan as a "young hustler" who gets caught up in the story.
So will this be the cast that finally sticks? Let's hope so, as filming is set to begin in January in Louisiana. While the cast has been downgraded to a considerable degree, "The Iceman" still has Shannon, which pretty much means we'll be watching this even if Carrot Top and Criss Angel took over the lead roles. It will be intriguing to see Schwimmer subvert his nice guy persona a little bit, but the wild card is still Vromen, whose films to date — "Danika," "Rx" — don't exactly inspire confidence. But it's a great story and a pretty good cast, so let's hope things tip in the right direction. [Variety]