Winona Ryder Replaces Maggie Gyllenhaal In 'The Iceman'

Maggie GyllenhaalAnother day, another casting change on "The Iceman." The film, which was originally set to star James Franco, Benicio Del Toro and Michael Shannon has dropped the first two actors on the way to filming, and has now lost one more esteemed thesp, with another random choice filling in to fill out this pretty bizarre cast.

Deadline reports that Winona Ryder will now take over for Maggie Gyllenhaal in the mob killer pic. 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. David Schwimmer will play the killer, Josh Rosenthal, who worked under mobster Roy Demoe (Ray Liotta). Ryder will now play the part of Kulinski's unsuspecting wife with Ryan O'Nan as a "young hustler" who gets caught up in the story. Finally, Chris Evans will take the role of Mr. Softee aka Robert Pronge, Kulinski’s mentor assassin. a part previously slotted for Franco.

Production is supposed to start this month, so here's hoping everyone sticks around this time. It's another um, "interesting" choice for Ryder, who has been making pretty random apperances in the last little while. While she was pretty much wasted in both "Star Trek" and "The Dilemma," she showed she's still got plenty of fire left thanks to her turn in "Black Swan" last year. Here's hoping this role has a bit of substance to it, but more importantly, that despite the casting changes, the solid premise gets the treatment it deserves. We're pretty wary given the revovling door, but Shannon sticking it out gives us faith. Fingers crossed.