Scott Cooper, Christian Bale reuniting for “Hostiles” Western

PanARMENIAN.Net - Director Scott Cooper and Christian Bale are reuniting for Western film “Hostiles”, Variety reports.

Cooper will write and direct, with Bale attached to star. Cooper will also produce with “Black Mass” producer John Lesher along with Ken Kao, who is also financing the pic through Waypoint Entertainment.

Set in 1892, “Hostiles” tells the story of a legendary Army captain, who agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief and his family back to tribal lands. Making the harrowing and perilous journey from an isolated Army outpost in New Mexico to the grasslands of Montana, the former rivals encounter a young widow whose family was murdered on the plains. Together, they must join forces to overcome the punishing landscape and hostile Comanche tribes that they encounter along the way.

Production is set to begin in July.

Following his shoot on “The Big Short,” Bale had taken the rest of 2015 off to recuperate from a knee injury. He began looking for new projects once the knee was fully rehabilitated. He had been considering the Michael Mann biopic “Ferrari,” which revolved around the life of automobile honcho Enzo Ferrari, but had to drop out due to health concerns over weight gains for the role.

Cooper had also been weighing several films, but when Bale became available after parting ways with “Ferrari,” the two jumped at the chance to work together again after having done so on 2013’s “Out of the Furnace.”

Cooper is coming off the mob movie “Black Mass,” which over-performed at the box office and also brought Cooper and his star Johnny Depp critical praise.

Bale was recently nominated for an Oscar for “The Big Short.”