When I first read about Red Machine, the new film from director David Hackl, the plot description made it sound like it was going to be a fairly small movie. The story involves two estranged brothers who decide to go on a camping trip with their girlfriends and end up being stalked by the eponymous grizzly bear. My perception was that the movie would be a survivalist drama that would focus on the small group and be more of a character study that looked at how the players would survive under the worst of conditions. Now that I've seen the extended cast list, it looks as though that won't be the case.
According to a new report from Variety, Red Machine has completed its casting and James Marsden, Thomas Jane, Piper Perabo and Billy Bob Thornton will be joined by Scott Glenn, Adam Beach, Michaela McManus and Kelly Curran. While the trade doesn't give any character names or descriptions about the new additions, previous casting announcements have said that Marsden and Jane will be playing the two brothers, Perabo will play Jane's deaf girlfriend and Thornton will play a legendary bear expert and hunter. The film will only be Hackl's second directorial effort, the first being Saw V in 2008. The original screenplay was written by newcomer J.R. Reher. Production begins this month in Vancouver.
My assumption is that either McManus or Curran is playing Marsden's girlfriend, but the roles played by Glenn and Beach are a total mystery. That casting almost seems to suggest that there's a bigger story at play, as does the inclusion of Thornton as the big game hunter, as he needs to be called into play somehow. There are still quite a few question marks surrounding this project, but one thing is for certain: this cast kicks ass.
