Tom Hardy is currently filming his return as the salivating symbiote in Venom 2, and dropping some really dull set photos for the fans. He can’t live on superhero movies alone, though, and has already lined up his next big project, a biopic on famous Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Variety reports Hardy will star in Shackleton, a project that has been kicking around Hollywood for a while. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy‘s Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan will write the script, which will center on Shackleton, a major figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration which began in the late 19th century and concluded with the Shackleton-Rowett Exploration in 1922. While his exploits have largely been ignored by time, Shackleton’s mostly remembered for the 1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, an attempted land crossing of the Antarctic. It ended in disaster, with Shackleton’s ship the Endurance trapped in an ice pack and his men stranded for a time.
At one point, Shackleton was going to be a reunion between Leonardo DiCaprio and The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith. It’s interesting that Hardy, who co-starred with DiCaprio in that film, would take this on now and if DiCaprio had any hand in making it happen. They’re buddies, after all.
This is still very early on. No word on a director yet, but Straughan is an interesting choice as writer. He’s been a mixed bag, with the highlights being ‘Tinker Tailor’ and the music comedy Frank. Low points were The Snowman and last year’s debacle, The Goldfinch. I’m also curious to see if Hardy will sport an Irish accent or just mumble into his parka or something.
