Cate Blanchett in in talks to join the cast of director Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. Bradley Cooper has already signed onto the project in the film’s other lead role. Leonardo DiCaprio had originally been in talks for the Cooper role.
The film is based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It had previously been adapted by 1947. Actor Tyrone Power had brought the book to studio Twentieth Century Fox’s attention, as the actor wanted to move past the romantic lead roles he was currently performing towards something more meaty and dramatic. He would star opposite Joan Blondell.
Blanchett will co-star in the film as a former psychiatrist who know uses her knowledge for a mentalist act in a carnival. Cooper will play a carnival barker who joins forces with Blanchett’s characters to con people, but one of the two will actually betray the other.
For this new version, Del Toro has co-written the screenplay with Kim Morgan. Production is set to start early next year.
