Long before the screen romance of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga on ‘A Star is Born’, there was already a failed attempt in conjuring a screen duo of Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper for the 2013 picture ‘Blue Jasmine’. The Oscar winner (Blanchett) and nominee (Cooper) are pairing up for Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming directorial project ‘Nightmare Alley’.
The film is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham. The story follows a Stanton Carlisle, an ambitious young con-man (to-be-played by Bradley) who teams up with a female psychiatrist Lilith Ritter (to-be-played by Cate) who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the tables on him, out-manipulating the manipulator.
Bradley attached himself to the role in June this year, after a committed Leonardo DiCaprio bowed out from the pic. The film doubles as a remake version, after it was originally adapted onscreen in 1947, starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Helen Walker.
Before ‘Nightmare Alley’ hits cinemas, Blanchett will return to theaters in ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ a comedy-drama from director Richard Linklater which opens August 16. She is presently also shooting ‘Mrs. America’, a miniseries in the 70s.
Guillermo is writing the script alongside Kim Morgan. Production begins early 2020.
