As much as I loved Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, my favorite Gary Oldman performances are always the ones where he plays the villain. From the insanely corrupt Stansfield in Leon to the Rastafarian pimp Drexl Spivey in True Romance, when Oldman is let off the leash the results are glorious. Let's hope that director Albert Hughes has the sense to let that happen on the set of Motor City.

THR reports that Oldman is now in final negotiations to play the baddie in Hughes' revenge thriller. Should he sign on, this will be the second time that Oldman has worked with Hughes, as the Oscar nominated actor also played a role in the Hughes brothers' The Book of Eli. The film stars Dominic Cooper as a small time criminal who is put away for a crime he didn't commit. Once he is freed from prison he goes on a path of revenge, hunting down the person responsible for his incarceration and looking to get back the woman he loves (set to be played by Amber Heard). The trade describes Oldman's character as "a kingpin-type pulling the strings and who has his hooks into the woman." Production is scheduled to begin in Berlin this spring with Joel Silver, Andrew Rona, Douglas Urbanski and Ethan Erwin producing. The script was written by newcomer Chad St. John.

The plot sounds identical to the Dwayne Johnson action film Faster, but I must admit that I am loving the cast for this. Oldman, of course, is a legend, but Cooper really showed us what he is capable of in The Devil's Double and Amber Heard is highly underrated. The key is getting the other elements to stand up as well.