Clint Eastwoods Hoover biopic, titled
J. Edgar, will begin filming in a few weeks and
Deadline has the scoop that
Josh Lucas has joined the cast today as famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. Presumably then the crime of the century, (as it was dubbed when it happened) which involved the kidnapping and murder of Lindberghs infant son Charles Jr., will be a major subplot of the film, something we already half expected as Damon Herriman (The Square, Justified) had already been cast as Bruno Hauptmann - the man who did the kidnapping and murder for ransom and was later convicted and executed for the crime. Hauptmann himself (capture, trial, and execution) was handled by local state authorities, but after his death, Hoover launched an FBI led investigation into potential evidence tampering and witness intimidation. This could be an event which Hoover wanted his name attached to since it was such a high profile case, but it is surely not the furious manhunts for men like John Dillinger, that Hoover is truly famous for spearheading. So it is really anyones guess as to how this story will play into Dustin Lance Blacks screenplay which I had personally, until now, assumed would be more about his manhunts and much debated personal life. Personally, I think Josh Lucas looks just fine for this part as he is one of those guys who fits this period (30s and 40s) very well and is a fairly plausible looking fill in for the real Charles Lindbergh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs8dr_J8OAQ Lucas is a decent enough actor having done his share of good supporting (American Psycho, A Beautiful Mind) turns - and with a director in Eastwood who will make him look better than most, I think this will work just fine. Lucas joins Leonardo Dicaprio (Hoover), Armie Hammer (Clyde Tolson, Hoovers best friend and possible lover), Judi Dench (as Hoover's mum), Damon Herriman (previously mentioned Bruno Hauptmann), and Ed Westwick (Agent Smith, assigned to write Hoovers biography). Charlize Theron was reportedly close to joining the film as Hoovers indispensible secretary Helen Gandy but apparently thats not happening now (she has either
Prometheus or Snow White and the Huntsman to chose between) and
Amy Adams or Naomi Watts are hotly tipped to replace her. J. Edgar, set up at Warner Bros., has no release date as of yet but presumably will be out in time for next year's Awards contention.