Good Universe and Lionsgate announced today that actors Jason Clarke and Omar Sy are set to star in the new film by Oscar-winning writer/director Stephen Gaghan, “Candy Store.”
Both actors have been cast on the heels of a successful 2012. Clarke recently starred opposite Jessica Chastain in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” and will appear next month in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby.” French co-star Sy starred last year in the official French Oscar submission “The Intouchables,” and beat eventual Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin for the best actor Cesar.
Gaghan nabbed a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2001 for Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble drama “Traffic,” and was nominated again in 2006 for his original screenplay of “Syriana,” a film Gaghan also directed.
Like those films, “Candy Store” interweaves disparate storylines amid a criminal milieu. Clarke will play a covert operative up against a king pimp (Sy) in Brooklyn. Gaghan will direct and produce from a script he co-wrote with Shannon Burke, consultant on “Syriana” and co-producer of Gaghan’s directorial debut, the B-thriller “Abandon” (2002).
Good Universe will present the forthcoming film to buyers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and Lionsgate will distribute in North America.
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