Is "Spider-Man" star Andrew Garfield going to play war photographer Robert Capa in a Columbia Pictures biopic directed by Michael Mann?
That's what "Clash of the Titans" actress Gemma Arterton recently told Total Film (via The Playlist) after the magazine named her the Hottest Actress of 2010. When asked about her future projects, Arterton said, "I'm aiming for even more diversity. 'Capa' is confirmed so I should be working with your hottest actor, Andy Garfield!"
Take the announcement with a grain of salt, however, as Deal Central surmises that Arterton may have gotten ahead of herself, at least with regards to Garfield's involvement.
The "Social Network" star will be tied up with "Spider-Man" (and its inevitable sequels) for some time, plus he's being courted for higher-profile projects all over town, although he does love his gritty indies (see "Boy A" and "Red Riding: 1974" for proof).
While I'd love to see the talented young actor work with Mann one day, I'm skeptical that the "Capa" project will ever come to fruition, especially with Garfield playing the lead now that Hollywood is hooked on him.
So while Garfield may not step behind Capa's camera, Arterton says she'll be in front of Mann's playing Gerda Taro, a fellow photographer who enjoyed a two-year romance with Capa before she was killed in a road accident at the Battle of Brunnete. Taro was the first female photojournalist to cover war from the front lines, and Eva Green was previously attached to the promising role.
While Capa was later involved with screen legend Ingrid Bergman, Taro was believed to be the love of his life, as he never married after her death and was reportedly found with only her photo in his wallet at the time of his death.
Mann is said to be aiming to make a "gritty, low-budget film," and now that he has a rising starlet attached to the long-gestating project, he should be able to finalize financing, although it's not a given considering that Mann's last two films — "Public Enemies" and "Miami Vice" — both underperformed at the domestic box office.
Jez Butterworth ("Fair Game") is adapting Susana Fortes' novel "Waiting for Robert Capa."
Arterton is coming off a career year with roles in the big-budget blockbusters "Clash of the Titans" and "Prince of Persia," as well as the lead in Stephen Frears' comedy "Tamara Drewe." Arterton is set to reprise her role as Io in "Clash of the Titans 2," and she also plans to star in Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Martin Amis' novel "London Fields."
