Butler to star in new Untouchables movie

Butler to star in new Untouchables movie


Scotsman.com


May 19, 2007


by TOBY MCDONALD



THE Scottish actor Gerard Butler is set to play the role of a young Sean Connery character in his latest film.

The 38-year-old Hollywood star will recreate the part that won Sir Sean won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Butler is joining Nicholas Cage for The Untouchables: Capone Rising. He will play Jimmy Malone, a young Irish police officer.

In the original movie, which also starred Kevin Costner and was set in Prohibition-era United States, Connery died in a hail of bullets.

For Butler, the announcement at Cannes this week caps a break-out year, after his sword-and-sandals epic 300 broke box office records. This year he is lined up to appear opposite some of Hollywood's most glittering leading ladies including the two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank as well as Jodie Foster.

Variety, the trade newspaper of the film industry, reported: "Gerard Butler will star in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables: Capone Rising.

"He joins Nicolas Cage, who will play a younger version of Al Capone, the character made famous by Robert De Niro. The Untouchables: Capone Rising is a prequel to De Palma's 1987 classic The Untouchables, and will revolve around the early dealings between Capone and Irish cop Jimmy Malone, a role that garnered an Oscar for Sean Connery."

Filming is expected to begin in October.

At the moment, Butler is making Nim's Island, a fantasy story based on Wendy Orr's children's book of the same name.

Jodie Foster is the other adult lead in the film.

Butler, a former Glasgow University law student, is also the lead actor in a futuristic action adventure Game, which will begin shooting in January.

Variety reported: "The lead character, played by Butler, is a worldwide sensation, and the top-ranked warrior in a game called Slayers.

"With his every move tracked by millions, he battles to regain his identity and bring down the entire system."

And in December, Butler has a new romantic movie coming out. PS I Love You is the story of a grieving young widow, portrayed by Swank.

Her character discovers her late husband has left her a list of tasks revealed in ten monthly messages that are intended to ease her out of grief and transition her to a new life.





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