Variety brings word that Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) is in early negotiations to star in Nightmare Alley, Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro’s (The Shape of Water) horror movie adaptation from Fox Searchlight.
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The outlet notes that Cooper, whose recent credits include A Star is Born, The Mule, and Avengers: Endgame, received an offer to take the place of Leonardo DiCaprio, who was originally announced to be starring in the film but passed after a deal was not reached. It has not yet been confirmed if a deal will close for Cooper to star in the movie.
Nightmare Alley, written by Del Toro and Kim Morgan, will be based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, previously adapted into a movie by Fox in 1947. The novel “follows the exploits of Stanton Carlisle, a ruthless hustler who learns the tricks of the carny trade and uses them to establish himself as a spiritual guru, preying on the wealthy and the weak.”
The 1947 movie starred Tyrone Power as an ambitious young con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist 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.
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Del Toro will direct produce alongside J. Miles Dale with TSG Entertainment. Fox Searchlight has worldwide distribution rights to the film. Nightmare Alley is scheduled to begin shooting this fall.
