Casey Affleck to Direct Western FAR BRIGHT STAR, Starring Joaquin Phoenix
Casey Affleck is set to star in and direct a western called Far Bright Star, and Joaquin Phoenix is set to star. This will be the second collaboration between the two. They previously worked together on the 2010 mockumentary I’m Still Here.
Far Bright Star is based on the novel by Robert Olmstead. According to Variety, “Phoenix will portray a cavalryman leading a ragtag group of young men on a hunt in 1916 for Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. When most of the group die in an attack, he’s left struggling to survive in the desert.”
Apparently Affleck is looking to follow in his brother’s footsteps and focus more on producing, writing, and directing films. This seems like a great project for Affleck and Phoenix to take on. With films like Bone Tomahawk and The Hateful Eight, it's good to see westerns are thriving a little more than they used to.
Here’s the description from the book:
The year is 1916. The enemy, Pancho Villa, is elusive. Terrain is unforgiving. Through the mountains and across the long dry stretches of Mexico, Napoleon Childs, an aging cavalryman, leads an expedition of inexperienced horse soldiers on seemingly fruitless searches. Though he is seasoned at such missions, things go terribly wrong, and his patrol is suddenly at the mercy of an enemy intent on their destruction. After witnessing the demise of his troops, Napoleon is left by his captors to die in the desert.
Through him we enter the conflicted mind of a warrior as he tries to survive against all odds, as he seeks to make sense of a lifetime of senseless wars and to reckon with the reasons a man would choose a life on the battlefield. Olmstead, an award-winning writer, has created a tightly wound novel that is as moving as it is terrifying.
Sounds like it will make for a great movie! Affleck will be seen next in Disney’s Coast Guard thriller The Finest Hours.
Via: Variety