Liam Neesonhas lined up some interesting co-stars for his latest action-thrillerMemory, which will see him joined byGuy Pearce,Monica BellucciandHarold Torres, Collider’sformer Up-and-Comer of the MonthfromZeroZeroZero.
The film hails fromMartin Campbell, director of the James Bond moviesGoldeneyeandCasino Royale, and finds Neeson playing Alex Lewis, an “expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision.” In other words, an assassin. I mean, there’s not a huge margin for error in that line of work. You don’t see too many bumbling assassins in movies. But I digress…
One day, Alex, who is not to be confused inanyway with Bryan Mills ofTakenfame, refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization and quickly becomes its target, forcing him to hunt down those who want him dead. Alex has a very particular set of skills that help him stay one step ahead of both the crime syndicate and the FBI, but there’s just one problem – he’s struggling with severe memory loss, which affects his every move. As details blur and his enemies close in, Alex must question his every action in addition to who he can really trust.
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Pearce andTaj Atwal(Line of Duty) will play a pair of veteran FBI agents who team up with Mexican intelligence liaison Hugo Marquez (Torres) to investigate the ensuing carnage, drawing the ire of a local tech mogul (Bellucci).
Dario Scardapane(TheBridge) wrote the script, which is based on the bookDe Zaak AlzheimerbyJef Geeraertsas well as the Belgian filmThe Memory of a Killerfrom directorErik Van Looy. Filming has already begun in Bulgaria, withRay Fearon(Beauty and the Beast) rounding out the cast.
Cathy Schulman(Crash) is producing via her Welle Entertainment banner along withRupert Maconick,Arthur SarkissianandMichael Heimler. Black Bear Pictures is fully financing the film, whichTeddy Schwarzman(The Imitation Game) andBen Stillman(Gold) will executive produce along withPeter BouckaertandRudy Durand.
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Emmy winner Pearce is poised for a big April, as he stars oppositeMichael B. Jordanin Amazon’s newly acquired action movieWithout Remorse, and playsKate Winslet’s love interest in HBO’s limited seriesMare of Easttown, which premieres this coming Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bellucci is coming off the recent release of the Oscar-nominated dramaThe Man Who Sold His Skin, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about. Like Campbell, she’s also an alumnus of the 007 franchise, having appeared alongsideDaniel CraiginSpectre.
But the selling point for me here – since it ain’t the familiar logline – is Torres, who was excellent in Amazon’s underrated drug dramaZeroZeroZero, and was recently signed by ICM Partners and Mosaic. I’m excited to see him in more movies, and I’m glad he’ll have a bit more visibility sharing the big screen with Neeson. I watchedHonest Thiefwith my Dad just a few weeks ago and told him that Neeson’s young co-starAnthony Ramoswas going to be a major star soon, which surprised him, given the size and nature of his role in that film. A few weeks later, he nabbed the lead in a newTransformersmovie. The point I’m trying to make here is that maybe one day, Torres will wind up the star of a global action franchise. You never know…
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