Academy Award-nominated actor Paul Giamatti is in talks to appear in David Cronenberg‘s “Cosmopolis” which already stars Colin Farrell and Marion Cotillard, who joined earlier this year.
According to a rep for Giamatti, no deal has been made, but the actor is in active discussions. Production Company Toronto Antenna declined to comment. The role is being kept under wraps for now, but based on Don DeLillo‘s book of the same name, there aren’t many roles to choose from.
“Cosmopolis” follows 24 hours in the life of a newly married billionaire as he cheats on his wife, is pursued by a stalker, gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune over the course of a single day. Farrell is set to play the billionaire and Cotillard his wife in the adaptation penned by Cronenberg himself. As far as we know, the only other major roles in the story would be the two men who are stalking the protagonist, a pastry chef and another more menacing character.
Last we heard, production was scheduled to take place in March of 2011, but Columbia‘s “Total Recall” is set for around the same time (spring 2011), so if that’s the case, we assume the non-tentpole “Cosmopolis” will have to wait a bit longer. Farrell recently had to turn down the male lead in “Hick” alongside Chloe Moretz and Kirsten Dunst, because he had a February scheduling conflict according to the producers of the film.
Cronenberg is currently in post-production with “A Dangerous Method” starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen. We presume it’s an awards contender that seems to be a good candidate for Cannes and should hit theaters next year. It currently has no U.S. distribution, but will be handled by Lionsgate in the U.K. which makes that studio a ballpark possibility.
