It’s been a while since I’ve done a casting post about more than one project. The reason is that these films, one set to star Miles Teller, and the other by Jason Momoa, are linked by director John Swab, who is moving forward on two thrillers that are set to be the biggest of his career.
First up, Deadline reports Teller will star in Copperhead, a film that returns Swab to the drug scene following his films Body Brokers and King Ivory. Penned by Chad Feehan and J. Todd Scott, the story “is thrust in motion when an undercover drug deal explodes into violence in West Texas. A veteran detective is then forced to team with a young federal agent to unravel the conspiracy within their elite task force.”
Interestingly, Copperhead is financed and produced by Black Label, which is also behind the upcoming Sicario 3, also about the drug war.
Meanwhile, buried in the same report, it’s revealed that Momoa will play outlaw biker gang leader Sonny Barger in Hell’s Angels, which Swab will direct from his own screenplay. Momoa will star and produce the film based on Barger’s popular autobiography, about his time as a founding member of the infamous Hell’s Angels motorcycle club that became counterculture icons throughout the 1960s. Known for their violence and criminal activities, the Hell’s Angels were negatively portrayed by writer Hunter S. Thompson in his 1967 book, Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
Swab has quietly built quite a resume of cop and drug world thrillers, most of them featuring the likes of Frank Grillo and Melissa Leo. Here’s hoping he manages to get both of them for these two films as well. I was highly impressed by King Ivory, and spoke to the cast about working with Swab on it. You can check out that interview below.
