Here’s a slightly more detailed account of Boyd’s novel:

A mysterious organization calling itself the Rubaco Pentad is blackmailing the FBI. If the Pentad’s demands for money are not met, high-profile victims will die. Each demand is bigger than the last, and the drop-off instructions are lethally complicated—it’s almost as if the Pentad wants the FBI to fail. But when an agent disappears with the cash he’s carrying, he needs to be found, and fast. One thing is clear: someone who knows a little too much about the inner workings of the Bureau is very clever —and very angry—and will kill and kill again if it means he can disgrace the FBI. The FBI pins its hopes on former agent Steve Vail, who quit rather than compromise his rigid personal code and is now working as a bricklayer.

Sounds like quite a smart thriller, and hopefully, with his aforementioned festival bound films, will help him recover from the disaster that was The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston. Since making a huge splash in 300, Butler hasn’t exactly made the best choices in roles ranging from disappointing turns in The Ugly Truth to the over-the-top action packed Neveldine and Taylor flick Gamer. However, Law Abiding Citizen was quite a compelling thriller, even if it jumped the shark a bit in the third act. Hanna Weg is scripting the film, but I can’t speak to her talents on the page since her work has yet to be seen on the big screen. Here’s hoping this turns out to be as intriguing a thriller as the synopsis makes it out to be.

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Gerard Butler is set to take the lead as preacher Sam Childers.   Michelle Monaghan will play Childers’ wife, Lynn, and Michael Shannon plays a close friend of Childers who stayed with his wife while he was away in Africa.

Butler, who just finished filming Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, Coriolanus, in Belgrade, has been committed to the film since January.

Production Weekly reports that the film will shift the production to Michigan in July.

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According to THR, Cox and Redgrave have decided to stick together and go from the BBC production The Day of the Triffids straight to Coriolanus, which begins shooting next week in Belgrade, Serbia. Fiennes leads as the Roman general Coriolanus. Redgrave will play his mother, Volumnia, who insists that he join the Senate. What seems like inevitable success turns into a disaster when conniving tribunes stifle his efforts. Coriolanus grows so upset he incites a riot, which ultimately leads to his expulsion. That’s when he does the unthinkable; join forces with the enemy, Tullus Audfidius (Butler) to seek revenge on Rome. The article doesn’t mention Cox’s role, but perhaps he’ll play one of the two tribunes who plot against Coriolanus.

Here’s where this gets interesting. The article describes the film as “mixing the classical and the contemporary, the movie aims to retain Shakespeare’s language, but combining it with modern technology and a contemporary environment.” It’ll be a little odd to hear the characters speak Shakespeare’s tongue in a modern setting, however the concept has some unique potential. As reported by ABC News, Fiennes explained, “We’ve edited it quite aggressively and this is the case with Shakespeare adaptations, you have to lose a lot of text … but the narrative lines of Coriolanus are very dynamic.” This idea is promising, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a good book substitute for students looking to skip the text and just see the film. Bad for students, good for everyone else.

source: cinemablend.com