If at first you don’t succeed with one name-brand actor, well, just try again with another. For some reason, DC has been trying to make comic book character Sgt. Rock happen for quite some time now. Early reports date back to the early 2000s, first with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached for the role of the gruff title character before director Guy Ritchie began circling the project in 2008. The WWII soldier ended up on the backburner when those plans fell apart over the years, only to get resurrected in the most bizarre (but strangely compelling) way imaginable. When last we heard, none other than “Queer” filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and actor Daniel Craig were set to reunite on — and lend their combined star power to — a “Sgt. Rock” film under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios. If that seemed too good to be true, well, that’s exactly what it turned out to be when Craig was subsequently reported to have dropped out of the role (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Now, however, there’s a whole new twist to this saga. THR has since discovered that Colin Farrell, a veteran of both Marvel (2003’s “Daredevil”) and DC (most recently HBO’s “The Penguin”), is currently “in talks” to become the main lead of “Sgt. Rock.” Should he sign on the dotted line, this would immediately put the production on a fast track to begin filming later this summer in England, according to the article. Set in World War II, the film would apparently adapt the exploits of Easy Company and its leader, Sgt. Rock, as the unit takes the fight to Nazis invading Europe during the height of the conflict. The fact that Guadagnino remains set to direct this feature (with a script from “Challengers” and “Queer” writer Justin Kuritzkes) is almost even more unbelievable than Farrell’s potential casting, the latter of whom would seem to be a perfect match for such a tough-as-nails character.
Read on for more details below!