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Sam Worthington to Lead Dramatic Thriller Adaptation of 'The Riders'

by Ethan Anderton
September 3, 2012
Source: Moviehole

Since starring in Avatar in 2009, Aussie actor Sam Worthington has yet to really achieve any success close to that film. Clash of the Titans made a decent splash at the box office, but that remake and the sequel Wrath of the Titans aren't all that great. However, the actor is still keeping busy until the Avatar sequels begin filming sometime down the road. We'll see him starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Breacher (formerly known as Ten), and now Moviehole has word that he will lead The Riders, an adaptation of Tim Winton's novel of the same name with Aussie film and TV director Robert Connolly at the helm. Read on!

Here's the official synopsis of the book:

After traveling through Europe for two years, Scully and his wife Jennifer wind up in Ireland, and on a mystical whim of Jennifer’s, buy an old farmhouse which stands in the shadow of a castle. While Scully spends weeks alone renovating the old house, Jennifer returns to Australia to liquidate their assets. When Scully arrives at Shannon Airport to pick up Jennifer and their seven-year-old daughter, Billie, it is Billie who emerges — alone. There is no note, no explanation, not so much as a word from Jennifer, and the shock has left Billie speechless. In that instant, Scully’s life falls to pieces.

Michael Hirst, Francesca Brill and Brooks-Smith are adapting the screenplay, and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Last Samurai) and Charles Dance ("Game of Thrones," Last Action Hero) have also joined the cast of the film with an eye towards release in January 2014. Since this is an Australian and United Kingdom co-production, there's a chance this might not see a wide release in the United States. Worthingon also has Thunder Run with Gerard Butler coming sometime down the road, so we'll see if he gets another decent film under his belt before the Avatar sequels.

Filed under Casting, Development, Movie News

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