Given the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, there hasn’t been a lot of casting news over the last two months, but Deadline has reported that Samuel L. Jackson is in talks to star as the US President in The Beast.
The independent package was revealed at the Toronto International Film Festival market and has an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA. Deadline’s report states that the project was also packaged prior to the beginning of the strikes. The Beast refers to the Presidential limousine, which is an impenetrable tank stocked with grenades, shotguns, armour-plating, and bullet-and-bomb proofing. In addition to Samuel L. Jackson, The Beast also stars Joel Kinnaman as Secret Service agent Taft.
“When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S. presidency, the President (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities,” reads the synopsis of The Beast. “Separated from his wife, the President must learn to control The Beast — and the monster inside himself — in order to save his life, the life of Secret Service agent Taft (Kinnaman), and America.“
James Madigan, who served as the second unit director on The Meg and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, will helm The Beast from a script by Umair Aleem (Kate). The film won’t be the first time Samuel L. Jackson will have played the President of the United States, as he previously played America’s Commander-in-chief in Big Game. The 2014 movie follows a young teenager camping in the woods who helps rescue the President of the United States when Air Force One is shot down near his campsite.
Samuel L. Jackson is fresh off his six-episode run on Marvel’s Secret Invasion series and will next be seen starring alongside Uma Thurman in The Kill Room, a dark comedy hitting theaters later this month.
The official synopsis of The Kill Room: “Patrice Capullo has a big problem: her art gallery isn’t making money. Gordon has an even bigger problem, while arranging hits for the mob is lucrative, he & his ”colleague” Reggie need a better way to launder their money. A chance introduction from Patrice’s drug dealer has the art world meet the underworld, and a plan is hatched. The one hitch: Patrice needs something to sell. With that, Reggie taps into his inner artist and makes a painting which immediately “sells” for an incredibly high price. When the noteworthy price for this new mystery artist accidentally leaks, the art career of “The Bagman” is born, attracting attention and press, something his superiors in the underworld are very unhappy with.” The film will hit theaters on September 29th.