As though the cast of Daniel Espinosa's upcoming thriller Child 44 wasn't impressive enough - boasting names like Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Considine and Fares Fares - today we learn that the film has added yet another stellar, acclaimed star. Jason Clarke, the Australian actor best known for his performance in Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winning feature Zero Dark Thirty, is the latest name to join the ranks of the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith, the film is set in the Soviet Union during the 1950s and centers on Tom Hardy as a military police officer named Leo Demidov. Performing his duties he is horrified to pick up a case involving a string of brutal child murders. He digs further into the case, as his government keeps an eye on every move he makes and refuses to admit that the murders actually exist.The book, which was first published in 2008, was actually the first in a trilogy, followed by 2009's "The Secret Speech" and 2011's "Agent 6." Presumably if Child 44 does well there is a chance that the producers and the studio will look to adapt those stories as well.
In the movie, Clarke will be playing a man named Brodsky who is described by THR as being a "snaky man." In the narrative he is accused by Hardy's character of being a traitor - but the trades doesn't give any larger context. The actor has been having a solid year so far, starring in both Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby and Roland Emmerich's White House Down. He has a major role in Matt Reeves' upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and will soon be seen playing President Abe Lincoln in A.J. Edward's The Green Blade Rises - which is expected to come out some time later this year. He also recently joined the cast of Stephen Gaghan's thriller Candy Store, which also sports an all-star cast that includes Robert De Niro, Christoph Waltz, and Omar Sy.
Clarke is actually a very late addition to the project, as the movie is actually already in production. Espinosa, who last directed the thriller Safe House with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, is directing from a script by Richard Price (whose previous credits include the remake of Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson and Christian Bale and the legendary HBO series The Wire). Ridley Scott and Michael Schaefer are producing through their Scott Free banner and while the film does not yet have a release date, Lionsgate is already set to distribute.
