Having proved his leading man chops in the tragic tale of Chris McCandless in Sean Penn's uplifting drama
Into The Wild & then followed up a year later with a memorable and confident turn opposite him in
Milk, we had expected 26 year old
Emile Hirsch by now to have made more of an impact on the Hollywood scene than he has lately. Sure, the hangover of the Warner Bros manga adapted flop of 2008 -
Speed Racer, still hangs heavy over the head of Hirsch (and come to think of it The Wachowski's), but an actor as talented as he suddenly doesn't become unbankable and he's long overdue a return. Oh how much better Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps could have been if Hirsch had won Shia LaBeouf's role in Oliver Stone's last film, for example. Since
Taking Woodstock which premiered at the
Cannes Film Festival two years ago, Hirsch has yet to appear on our screens - though it does look like he has a few interesting roles coming in quick succession and we're delighted to have him back. Opening later this year is William Friedkin's movie
Killer Joe in which he stars in the Indie drama and then the alien blockbuster
The Darkest Hour, and the actor is currently filming
The Motel Life with Stephen Dorff. And now
Variety say we can add a role in
Oliver Stone's next movie
Savages to the list. Based on the book by
Don Wislow, the book follows two cannabis dealers -
Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass) and
Taylor Kitsch - who come up against a Mexican drug cartel when their girlfriend (
Blake Lively) becomes kidnapped and held for ransom.
Benicio Del Toro and
Salma Hayek play prominent members of the drugs cartel that stage the kidnapping, whilst there's also turns for Pulp Fiction alumni
John Travolta (as a washed up DEA agent) and
Uma Thurman (mother of the kidnapped daughter). How Emile Hirsch factors into this one is anyone's guess. Filming on Savages - featuring surely Oliver Stone's most intriguing ensemble in a while, begins in July and is likely to be in theatres 2012.