Tom Wilkinson is apparently closing in on a deal to play the lead villain of the film, Latham Cole. He’ll be joining a pretty high profile cast, most notably Armie Hammer as the titular character, Johnny Depp as his sidekick Tonto, and Ruth Wilson as the female lead.
Other actors being considered for roles include Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Dwight Yoakum.
Things seem to be moving ahead fairly quickly for the film now, since Disney finally greenlit it after sidelining it for almost a year over concerns with its budget. The budget was dropped from $260 million to $215 million and the stars have taken salary cuts to make sure the film gets made. We’ll see if it was worth it, but Wilkinson as s villain certainly seems like a step in the right direction.