A lot of actors sprint away from their more iconic roles so that they can prove their range. Anthony Hopkins, on the other hand, completely embraces them. Possibly known to more people as Hannibal Lecter than by the name he was born with, Hopkins has played multiple kinds of roles over his six decade career, but has never tried to distance himself from either creepy characters or serial killer dramas. Now he's signed up for one of the latter, but this time around he'll be hunting for criminals instead of for victims.
Variety has learned that Hopkins is now in final talks to star in Solace, a crime thriller that was originally written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin but was most recently re-written by Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt. The project does not currently have a director attached. In the film Hopkins would star as John Clancy, a psychic and former doctor who works with the FBI to find a serial killer. The actor has had a very active year, starring in The Rite back in January and Thor in May. He will next be seen in Fernando Meirelles' 360, which will see its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival later this week.
Does it sound like a contrived plot? Absolutely. In fact, it sounds amazingly similar to an episode of South Park, which, in turn, parodied Red Dragon, the last film in which Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter. Still, with a great talent like Hopkins on board and the writer of Zodiac taking care of the script, perhaps it's a movie that can be elevated beyond its weak logline.
