LONDON — Irish actor Jack Reynor, who starred in “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” has joined the cast of Ben Wheatley’s “Free Fire,” which started shooting on Monday.
Reynor received the best actor award for his performance in “Glassland” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and was recently seen in “A Royal Night Out” and in Justin Kurzel’s Cannes Competition player “Macbeth.” His upcoming shooting schedule includes Jack O’Connell starrer “HHHH” and Andy Serkis’ “Jungle Book: Origins.”
Sam Riley, who appeared in Anton Corbijn’s “Control,” also joins the cast. Riley’s other films include “Brighton Rock,” “On the Road” and “Maleficent.” He will next be seen in “The Dark Valley” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”
The “Free Fire” cast also includes Sharlto Copley, who broke-through in Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9,” before going on to star in Blomkamp’s “Elysium” and “Chappie.” He also appeared in Hollywood pics “The A-Team,” “Oldboy” and “Maleficent.”
The “Free Fire” lineup is led by Brie Larson, whose credits include “21 Jump Street” and “Short Term 12,” for which she was nominated for Independent Spirit and Critics Choice Awards, and was named best actress at the Locarno Film Festival. She recently starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in Paramount’s “The Gambler,” and has the lead role in the keenly anticipated feature of the bestselling novel “Room.”
Other actors in the film include Noah Taylor, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and Enzo Cilenti. Luke Evans has dropped out of the cast due to a scheduling conflict.
“Free Fire” is set in Boston in the late seventies. Larson plays a woman who has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen and a gang that is selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a game of survival ensues. The film is written by Wheatley and Amy Jump.
The casting news first appeared in Variety‘s sister title Deadline Hollywood.
