Stranger things have happened, but arthouse indie filmmaker Luca Guadagnino making a superhero movie is up there near the top of the list, at least of late. Granted, his adaptation of “Sgt. Rock,” a DC Comics title set in WWII, centering on a tough-as-nails infantryman, differs significantly from the average superhero movie. Still, it’s under the DC aegis and DC Studios’ James Gunn and Peter Safran’s purview, and the in-development project may have just found a new lead.
While Daniel Craig, the star of Guadagnino’s “Queer,” was mooted to play the title role for a minute, he dropped out, and now another DC veteran is joining the fold again. The trades report that Colin Farrell is in talks to play the role of Guadagnino, which would be the first collaboration between the A-list and Oscar-nominated talent.
While Farrell is already part of the DC Universe, as The Penguin in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” universe, and starred in his own “The Penguin” series for HBO/MAX last year, that franchise is technically DC Elseworlds: aka it takes place in a different universe so there shouldn’t be any confusion about Farrell seemingly double dipping into DC.
While Farrell is apparently in talks for the role, one thing complicating the deal, according to THR’s Borys Kit, is that Farrell has two movies due to debut in the fall awards season and festival and promotional efforts could complicate his availability and scheduling. Those two films are “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” for Sony and “The Ballad of a Small Player” for Netflix (the latter of which presumably popping up on the festival circuit).
DC Studios co-chiefs Gunn and Safran said in February they would shoot this summer “only if we find the perfect actor,” and perhaps they have found one in Farrell.
If it happens, Farrell will play Sgt. Rock, the leader of Easy Company, the combat unit fighting Nazi forces in Europe. This already would make Sgt. Rock much, much different from your average superhero movie and perhaps it’ll be pretty dark, gritty, grounded and unlike the rest of DC.
Justin Kuritzkes, who penned Guadagnino’s “Challengers” and “Queer, also wrote this script, so this could indeed be something very different for DC and the entire so-called superhero genre; if this title even comes close to what a traditional comic book movie is usually like.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis both circled different iterations of the comic book character in the 90s, but neither project came to fruition.
