I wonder what it feels like to be a trades writer pretending to break some news when you know the news was broken a month previous. I can’t imagine that would feel very rewarding.
John Hopewell and Emiliano de Pablos of Variety are the writers of which I am typing. They’ve got a story today about how Alejandro Amenabar is prepping a new English-language film called Agora starring Rachel Weizs, something the Hollywood Reporter reported (and we subsequently stole) back on Feb. 12. They do have some new casting news, which is why I am writing this right now, but I still think it’s odd that they would act as if the movie’s existence is news.
So the real news in this story is that Max Minghella (Anthony’s son, if you didn’t know), Michael Lonsdale and Rupert Evans will be joining Agora, with Mighella taking the lead role, that of a slave named Davus. The film revolves around Davus having to choose between his love for his master, Rachel Weizs’s Hypatia, and possibly attaining freedom by jumping on the bandwagon of Christianity. ToutLeCine says Evans (Hellboy) will play a philosophy student, and there is no word on what role Lonsdale (Munich) will play.
It’s also worth noting that Homayoun Ershadi (The Kite Runner) was added to the cast a couple weeks ago.
I like that Amenabar put Minghella (Art School Confidential, Syriana), who is pretty much an unknown, in the lead role. The guy really tried his darndest to hold together Art School Confidential, and he was seriously the only bright spot in Bee Season. If the guy can appear prominently in a legitimately good film, his career might actually go somewhere. And hell, the picture starts shooting next Monday, and if it turns out to be as good as The Sea Inside, Amenabar’s previous film, Minghella could find himself with an Oscar nomination. He certainly has that kind of potential.