CRY MACHO to be Arnold Schwarzenegger's next film role

Cry Macho is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's first post-gubernatorial film. Earlier we reported that Arnold would be back for Justin Lin's further Terminator sequels.  Vultrue reports today that he is set to star in the drama to be directed by Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) and produced by Al Ruddy. Ruddy is the producer behind Oscar-winning films like Million Dollar Baby and The Godfather. Ruddy is reportedly partnering with Bill Block, the District 9 producer and financier, and they will head to Cannes to seek financing. Filming is could begin as early as this summer. 

The movie is based on the 1975 novel by the late N. Richard Nash. He also wrote the screenplay for the film before he died in 2000. Nash is a playwright best known for The Rainmaker. Schwarzenegger will be flexing his dramatic muscles in the role of "a damaged-goods horse trainer who’s just been ignominiously put out to pasture by his feckless boss. In exchange for some retirement money, the broken — and broke — horseman agrees to kidnap the boss’s 11-year-old son from his rich Mexican ex-wife. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when the ex-wife is all too glad to be rid of her juvenile delinquent."

Even though this is the first time I have heard of the project, it has been in the works for a while. Ruddy had had Schwarzenegger attached to the script for almost a decade, but politics interrupted that plan. The script has lay dormant. Clint Eastwood was interested in the role of the horseman, but that project fell apart. 

I can actually see Schwarzenegger in this role and think the story sounds great. I am interested to see Arnold playing a unique character. I am interested in seeing him expand into new areas as an actor.

What are your thoughts?