Tony Scott Firms Up Potsdamer Platz Cast; Bardem Confirmed, Christopher Walken And Johnny Hallyday Joining

For the past few months, Tony Scott has been gathering the cast for his next movie, Potsdamer Platz. (Which likely won't be the film's release title.) We've known that Mickey Rourke would appear in the film, and last time we heard anything about it the potential names new were Javier Bardem and Jason Statham.

At this point we don't know the status of Statham's involvement, but Bardem is seemingly now confirmed. And new hires include Christopher Walken and French musician Johnny Hallyday.

French paper Le Parisien (via The Playlist) reports the addition of Walken and Hallyday. There was a point where Scott was hoping to land Al Pacino and Gene Hackman for roles, but we also don't know the status of that. Pacino is always a possibility, and Scott probably has a better chance than most to get Hackman to appear in front of a camera once more. (Instead of just into a voice recording booth.) But the last report we had was that Hackman wasn't interested, so scratch him off even the 'vaguely possible' list.

Now just look at that cast: Rourke, Bardem, Walken and Hallyday. Weird lineup. Bardem's the young one, so I wonder if he and Statham were possibilities for the same role? If not, who else might take the place of Statham if he's out? In general I love that Scott is working with a cast of older actors. I just wish I had any faith in the idea that he'll deliver a film I want to see.

Previously:

Reports say that the film will be retitled at some point. Buddy Giovinazzo originally wrote the Potsdamer Platz script, but by last year it had been rewritten by the Sexy Beast team of David Scinto and Louis Mellis. Those two have now split as writing partners, and it seems like further changes are coming down, along with the new title, so I'm curious to hear who gets the rewrite gig.

Last summer, the picture was said by Scott to be "based on a true story of the Jersey mob and when they tried to take over the construction business in Germany," but Scott said there was a plan to make it contemporary. Reports say the location will be changed to Puerto Rico. (Which is echoed in the new report.) That would necessitate the title change (Potsdamer Platz being a Berlin landmark) and considerably remove the story from the original inspiration. Scott's production company picked up the original draft of this script ten years ago, and it has been percolating ever since, so he's certainly had time to consider an approach to the film.