Variety reports that, yes, dreams do come true, and Tom Hardy and Michael Shannon will soon star together in a movie in which they will play no less than actual brothers (insert Warrior joke here). The pair will star in a big screen adaptation of Brett C. Leonard’s play The Long Red Road, which will see Hardy reprising the role he originated in the stage version back in 2010.
The play centers on Hardy’s Sammy, a drunk who seems bent on pulling of a Leaving Las Vegas maneuver, and is attempting to drink himself to death on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. Shannon will play his brother, Bob. Leonard himself will adapt his play for the screen. Interestingly enough, Shannon also has a background on the stage, and though he has not performed in Road previously, many of his theatrical ties are also rooted in the Chicago scene from which it emerged.
The play debuted at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in 2010 (with one Philip Seymour Hoffman at the helm), and the Goodman’s website provides a wealth of information about the project. It synopsizes the work as such: “A devastating new play about the impact of addiction, The Long Red Road introduced audiences to Sammy, who has fled his past and landed in South Dakota, where he is slowly drinking himself to death. When his young daughter arrives desperate to reunite with her father, he must decide between the self-hatred that consumes him and the responsibilities he’s tried to leave behind.” There are also a bunch of production stills, so if you need some assistance imagining Hardy sloppy-drunk, skip on over to them, right HERE.
You can also read the first few pages of the play HERE. At the very least, Hardy will be swearing up a storm.
