Lynne Ramsay’s last film, We Need to Talk About Kevin, was a challenging look at the role that parenthood plays in the midst of a notorious tragedy. For her next film, the oft-delayed Jane Got a Gun, Ramsay looks to expound upon those themes, albeit more with outlaw gangs than infuriating teenagers. Only she’ll be doing it with a slightly different cast than previously reported.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Fassbender has exited the film, with sources saying his upcoming Montreal shoot for X-Men: Days of Futures Past presented scheduling conflicts, as Jane is to finally begin filming this April. Fassbender was set to play the male lead opposite Natalie Portman’s Jane, but that role will now be filled by the film’s other male star, Joel Edgerton, who was originally set to play the film’s villain. Jude Law has signed on to take over the antagonist character, making this the third film he’ll appear in with Portman, after 2003’s historical drama Cold Mountain and 2004’s deceitful romance Closer.
From a screenplay written by first-timer Brian Duffield, Jane Got a Gun follows Portman, a wife whose outlaw husband arrives home full of bullets and close to death. Fearing the impending arrival of her husband’s gang, led by Law, Jane reaches out to an estranged former lover (Edgerton) to help her defend her farm against the gang’s upcoming attack.
Before he gets to this though, Jude Law will finish filming Wes Anderson’s next critical darling The Grand Budapest Hotel, having recently wrapped as the titular safe-cracker in Dom Hemingway. His latest film, Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, was released in February.
