It’s amusing to look back at director Brad Anderson’s career and notice that even though his earliest films, mostly comedies, contained a few actors that would eventually become marquee names, his first thriller, 2001’s psychological creepfest Session 9 had all the star power of David Caruso behind it, and it still managed to be one of the scariest films in the last twenty years. Since, he’s worked with some of the best talent in Hollywood on both the big and small screen, having last directed Halle Berry in the recent modest hit The Call. And he’ll soon be working with two more Academy Award winners in his next project.
Deadline reports Sir Ben Kingsley and Sir Michael Caine have been added to the cast of Eliza Graves, Anderson’s adaptation of an early Edgar Allan Poe story titled “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether.” The prestigious actors will be joining stars Jim Sturgess and Kate Beckinsale in the psychological thriller, which is written by Joe Gangemi. Mel Gibson is even on board as a producer.
And it’s not a plot that readily brings to mind actors like Caine and Kingsley. The story concerns a young doctor (Sturgess) who arrives at a mental institution for an apprenticeship and finds that the patients have taken over, and the doctors have become imprisoned. The doctor eventually falls for one of the patients (Beckinsale), and weird complications arise. The site doesn't mention what roles the two new stars will be playing, but I have to assume Caine and Kingsley would play two of the hospital's reputable staff members.
Caine is coming off of last year's The Dark Knight Rises and will next be seen in the magician heist flick Now You See Me. Kingsley, who worked with Anderson on 2008’s excellent Transsiberian, is set to have a huge year, appearing as The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 and as Mazer Rackham in the anticipated adaptation of Ender’s Game.
Eliza Graves will begin production on June 24.
