We won’t have to wait too long to see a new film from director Paul Greengrass (“News of The World”) as his California wildfire pic “The Lost Bus” is expected to be released later in the year and he’s now gearing up on his next project, a period drama called “The Rage.”
An update has been revealed as Andrew Garfield (“We Live In Time,” “After The Hunt”) is now in the mix to star in “The Rage,” as the actor is said to be in “active negotiations.” Based on the true-life event of the Peasants’ Revolt of the late 1300s, Deadline revealed the casting switch-up that sees Garfield replacing the original high-profile actor selected to lead it, Matthew McConaughey.
Garfield is said to be circling the role of a peasant farmer who leads the revolt against the English feudal system (instituted by Norman rule), although it’s unconfirmed if this would be the role of Wat Tyler, which has been speculated for a while now.
Not only that, but Universal‘s Focus Features is said to be developing a deal at the Cannes Film Market to secure the domestic rights to “The Rage” with an offer reportedly to be in the $11 million range.
Given the subject matter, it sounds like we could see Garfield slightly returning to his heroic action roots after playing “Spider-Man” in three feature films and nabbing a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the WWII action drama “Hacksaw Ridge,” playing a pacifist medic who becomes a war hero during the Pacific campaign. As the revolt side of the story would likely attempt to shoot bloody battles not too dissimilar to sequences we saw in “Braveheart” and “Kingdom of Heaven.”
Strange to think McConaughey, who is leading Greengrass’ “The Lost Bus,” would have tried his hand at an English accent (it was indeed amusing when he used British slang in “The Gentlemen“), then again the actor has been full of surprises since his big career revival around acclaimed efforts like “The Dallas Buyers Club,” “Interstellar,” and HBO‘s “True Detective.”
Greengrass, of course, is no stranger to tackling grim or violent real-life events after breaking out with “Bloody Sunday” (focusing on the infamous Derry massacre of peaceful protesters in 1972) along with releases such as 9/11 drama “United 93,” the Tom Hanks pirate hostage pic “Captain Phillips,” and the Matt Damon-led Iraq War flick “Green Zone.”
“The Rage” certainly sounds like a meaty project for Garfield, and we can’t wait to see who else ends up cast opposite him.
