The Lord of the Rings propelled all of its cast into stardom but none have used that push as much to their advantage as Viggo Mortensen. The one-time-Aragorn has exploded from a barely known face to really headline some interesting choices as an acting career goes (okay, Orlando Bloom has probably benefited just as much from LotR but that isn’t the hook for this story).

Currently Mortensen is promoting his second team-up with director David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises, but one movie in the can doesn’t mean it’s time for a breather. Mortensen is already looking forward to his next big project, and he told the MTV Movie Blog where his eyes are currently looking.

Apparently Mortensen is close to signing on to an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a post-apocalyptic thriller that doubles as a father and son tale. The book was a Pultizer-prize winner and among Oprah’s picks last year (which, sadly, carries about as much weight as the Pulitzers these days).

Viggo would play the story’s father, who is trying to get away from cannibals and crazies with his son. Sounds like it’s a film that would take Mortensen a little closer to the fantasy fanbase of LotR, although the actor says that Visually, it’s going to be a very beautiful movie. It’s a very good story. If nothing else, that description intrigues me, as you don’t typically call post-apocalyptic films visually beautiful. Visually stunning maybe, decrepit maybe, but beautiful?

Of course, this is just where Viggo is looking and the papers aren’t signed yet. Given the prestige of the novel, however, I can’t imagine some studio wouldn’t want a star of Mortensen’s caliber attached to fight post-apocalyptic cannibals.