Joel Edgerton is making a trip to India.
The “Great Gatsby” star has signed on for the lead role in Warner Bros.’ “Shantaram,” an adaptation of the 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, according to Deadline. Producer Johnny Depp, who was once attached to play the role before the 2007 Writer’s Strike derailed plans to produce the film, is said to have personally courted Edgerton for the part.
Based in part on the real-life exploits of its author, “Shantaram” follows an escaped Australian convict as he embarks on a new life in Bombay, India (now Mumbai), where he opens a free health clinic in the slums and later becomes a criminal operative in the underground drug and weapons trades.
Edgerton (who is himself a native Aussie) will next be seen in the Australian thriller “Felony,” which is slated to screen at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Also coming up for the actor is “Jane Got a Gun,” the troubled Western in which Edgerton was originally set to play the role of the villain before replacing Michael Fassbender as the male protagonist. Also starring Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor, the film became the subject of a firestorm earlier this year when original director Lynne Ramsay (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”) failed to report to the set for the first day of shooting. She was later replaced by Edgerton’s “Warrior” director Gavin O’Connor.
Do you think Edgerton is the right choice for the lead role in “Shantaram”? Sound off in the comments.