Oscar Isaac is to replace Javier Bardem in J.C. Chandor’s A MOST VIOLENT YEAR co-starring Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain. Bardem had been announced earlier this year but has left the project due to script disagreements. Director J.C.Chandor, best known for 2011’s fast-paced drama MARGIN CALL, explained the situation and how Isaac was awarded the part:
“It was very sad, after eight months of working on the script with Bardem, for that to fall apart. We just never could get there. As I was having these problems with Bardem, the answer was right in front of my eyes. It’s really neat because Jessica was pushing Oscar because they were classmates at Juilliard, and he literally is this character.”
Not many plot details have been given away but we do know it will centre on a Hispanic man (Isaac) who immigrates to America in the 1980’s and becomes a very successful businessman.
Isaac is currently starring in the Coen brothers’ folk-music movie INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIES which won the Best Feature prize at last nights Gotham Independent Film Awards and is released in the UK in January. Audiences may recognize him from 2011 Ryan Gosling flick DRIVE in which he played Carey Mulligan’s dodgy-dealing husband. Already filmed for release next year for Isaac are director William Monahan (THE DEPARTED) helmed thriller MOJAVE, THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY, written by DRIVE scribe Hossein Amini and sci-fi drama EX MACHINA which is the directorial debut of THE BEACH and 28 DAYS LATER writer Alex Garland.
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR will begin shooting in New York at the end of Janaury.
Source: THR
