The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that the ensemble cast for Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water)’s remake of the crime thriller Nightmare Alley has expanded with the addition of Billions and Bourne franchise vet David Strathairn.
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Rooney Mara, who is best known for her roles in 2010’s drama The Social Network, 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and 2015’s Carol, last signed on to star as Molly, the closest thing to Bradley Cooper’s Stan’s true love as they take the act they learned from a circus in Chicago on the road.
Nightmare Alley, written by Del Toro and Kim Morgan, will be based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, previously adapted into a movie by Fox in 1947. The novel “follows the exploits of Stanton Carlisle, a ruthless hustler who learns the tricks of the carny trade and uses them to establish himself as a spiritual guru, preying on the wealthy and the weak.”
The cast will be led by Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) with Cate Blanchett (Where’d You Go, Bernadette?), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Mark Povinelli (Water for Elephants) and The Shape of Water‘s Richard Jenkins all in talks to star alongside him.
Strathairn, who most recently appeared on the big screen in this year’s monster blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters, is set to portray the alcoholic husband to Collette’s mentalist Zeena, who will act as mentor to Cooper’s Stanton.
The 1947 movie starred Tyrone Power as an ambitious young con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the tables on him, out-manipulating the manipulator.
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Del Toro will direct produce alongside J. Miles Dale with TSG Entertainment. Fox Searchlight has worldwide distribution rights to the film. Nightmare Alley is scheduled to begin shooting this fall.
