It was all of the way back in April of 2008 when we first heard that John Hillcoat (director of the Row Three favorite The Proposition and the solid, but flawed The Road) had picked his next project, an adaptation of The Wettest County in the World, a novel about family of bootleggers during the years of Prohibition in America. In October of 2009, word spread that Ryan Gosling, Shia LaBeouf, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Dano and Michael Shannon were all interested in joining the film. Unfortunately, months later that all fell apart and it seemed the movie was destined to be little more than an undeveloped dream.
Today though, Twitch is reporting that the movie is back on and production will begin in the spring with Shia LaBeouf and Inception actor Tom Hardy taking on the two lead roles. The story is right up Hillcoat’s ally – gritty, violent, and examining the emotional bonds between family members. We will without a doubt be keeping our eyes on this one in the third row.
