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Jake Gyllenhaal to star in crime thriller The Son

Written by . Published: May 28 2016

Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to star in a film adaptation of Jo Nesbo's The Son.


Directed by Denis Villeneuve, whom the actor previously worked with on 2013's Enemy, the film is set to tell the story of Sonny Lofthus, once a promising wrestler, whose life enters a downward spiral when his police officer father commits suicide. After spending 12 years in prison, Sonny escapes when he learns the truth of his father’s death and begins hunting down the people responsible for his wrongful sentence.


The film will be made by Jake's production company Nine Stories in partnership with Bold Films, with Riva Marker and Michel Litvak producing. Gary Michael Walters will executive produce with Niclas Salomonsson as well as input from the noted Scandinavian author Jo Nesbo.


In a statement announcing the project on Thursday (26May16), Riva said the team was looking forward to translating the "provocative" narrative onto the big screen.


"Denis is one of the most inspiring filmmakers working today, and partnering with him on The Son represents everything that Jake and I strived for when we launched the company. Provocative and edgy material in collaboration with a visionary storyteller," she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "We were attracted to The Son because beneath its dark and violent exterior is a universal story about a man who seeks the truth."


Nine Stories recently completed principal photography on its first feature with Bold Films, David Gordon Green's Stronger, in which Jake, 35, stars as a Boston man caught up in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The film is set to be released next year (17).


The Academy Award-nominated star also commences production on Bong Joon-ho’s Okja and Daniel Espinosa’s Life later this year (16) and will next be seen in Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals.


French-Canadian Denis' recent credits include 2015's Sicario, which was nominated for three Academy Awards.

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