I have a major girl crush on Helen Mirren. I want to be her, and I simultaneously want her to take me under her wing, and turn me posh. Now she’s set to make me geek out even more, because Screen Daily and The Hollywood Reporter report that she’s just signed on to Red, Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of Warren Ellis’ bloody miniseries. Robert Schwentke is set to direct.
Mirren joins Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in this cheerful tale of assassins. Willis plays black ops CIA Agent Paul Moses, who is enjoying the peace and quiet of retirement. But when there’s a change of guard at the CIA, it’s decided that Moses is too much of a liability. While Ellis’ book pitted Moses against a single assassin, the movie will put Moses against a host of younger and more technologically adept opponents. It’ll be the old school versus the new school — and we all know who will probably win. I believe Freeman is playing the new CIA boss who decides Moses has seen and done too much to be anything but a liability, but nothing has been specified.
In her first comic book adaptation, Mirren will be playing an old associate of Willis, who has her own lethal set of skills. (Shades of Taken!) Don’t be surprised if they’re sexy skills. But you know what? It’s Helen Mirren. If she wants to use her looks in order to dispatch a dictator or arms dealer, she can. Filming is set to kick off in January, and I count the days until I can see Mirren actually kick some ass onscreen.
Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Casting, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
