Shane Black's NICE GUYS has landed the female lead of BATMAN and the co-lead of THEY LIVE.
Yesterday, we found out that Keith David was going to play a hitman alongside Beau Knapp in Black's '70s-set detective movie. The wording makes it seem like David and Knapp are the central villains of the piece, but I'll bet that they are just hired guns for the real heavy hiding behind the curtain.
Now, we're hearing that Kim Basinger will also be playing a significant role, reteaming her with L.A. CONFIDENTIAL co-star Russell Crowe. She'll be playing "the chief justice who is in be with criminals," so I guess she won't be on the side of Crowe and Gosling's anti-heroic duo.
David may not command multimillion-dollar paychecks, but he's got a endless well of love from the fanboy community, and remains a hugely recognizable character actor due to memorable appearances in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, CRASH, and a ton more. Surprisingly enough, this will be his first time delivering Black's dialogue, and I have no doubt the two-time John Carpenter vet will acquit himself nicely to the screenwriter's trademark interplay.
As for Basinger, it'll be great to see her in what is presumably more of a tough-girl role than she's used to. She's been utilized for her fragile, vulnerable qualities as much as anything else over the course of her career, but she won her Oscar playing world-weary Lynn Bracken in CONFIDENTIAL, so it'll be cool to see her once-again playing someone who knows the score. If she turns out to be the big-bad of the piece, all the better; I can't be the only one who would be down to see Basinger go full-on villain against Crowe and Gosling.
This is looking more and more like Black's follow-up to KISS KISS, BANG BANG, and the cast is getting increasingly impressive as the names trickle out to the public. Let's see who else is going to break out the polyester and big hairdos alongside Gos, Crowe, Basinger, and David...
NICE GUYS hopefully finish first on June 17th, 2016.
