Cate Blanchett to Star in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’

Cate Blanchett is all set to star in ‘Nightmare Alley’, an upcoming film that is being directed by Guillermo del Toro. She is joining ‘A Star is Born‘ actor Bradley Cooper as one of the protagonists in the film. Notably, Leonardo DiCaprio was earlier circling the project, but ultimately Cooper took up the role. Production is expected to start sometime early in 2020.

‘Nightmare Alley’ will take us deep into the heart of the show business in America in the 1940s, and we are bound to get a good look at the sleazy denizens of a carnival that is filled with grifters, charlatans, and femme fatales. Cooper is supposed to play the role of a con-man, who teams up with Cate Blanchett’s character, who is equally, if not more, nefarious. Blanchett’s character is a psychiatrist, and the two start a mentalist act, in which they swindle innocent people. However, the ambitious con-man and the corrupt psychiatrist soon turn on each other and end up in a game of dangerous manipulations. The movie comes from Fox Searchlight and is based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel of the same name. For those unaware, there is already a movie adaptation of the book that came out in 1947; it starred Tyrone Power in the role of the con-man. However, del Toro’s version has been chalked up to be more faithful to the original source, rather than being a remake of the old movie.

Guillermo del Toro is not just directing the film, but he has also co-written the script with Kim Morgan. The film is being produced and financed by del Toro himself, along with J. Miles Dale with TSG Entertainment. It is indeed special to see del Toro return to the director’s chair, because after winning the Oscar for ‘The Shape of Water‘, the auteur decided to hold off on directing any more films, and instead chose to focus on producing them. ‘Antlers’ and ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ are two of del Toro’s upcoming projects as a producer. It remains to be seen if he manages to amaze us in ‘Nightmare Alley’ as he did with ‘The Shape of Water’.

Coming to Cate Blanchett, the two time Oscar winner has a packed schedule herself. She was recently seen as Hela in ‘Thor: Ragnarok‘, after which she went on to play a part in ‘Ocean’s 8’. She also played a witch in ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ and lent her voice to Kaa, the snake, in ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle‘. She will next appear in Richard Linklater’s movie, ‘Where’d You Go Bernadette?’, which is coming to theaters this August, and is currently filming for ‘Mrs. America’, an FX series.

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