Three guys who have been part of mega-franchises are teaming up to do an Iraq war film.
Nicholas Hoult, Luke Evans, and Henry Cavill will star in SAND AND CASTLE, set to get going in the beginning of November. Fernando Coimbra, whose done two episodes of NARCOS and a Brazilian film called A WOLF AT THE DOOR, is directing the personal story of screenwriter Chris Roessner (formerly an assistant for producer Mark Gordon), who served as a machine gunner in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle in 2003. His doppelganger, Matt Ocre (Hoult), and his squad are tasked with installing running water in a particularly volatile village called Baqubah, under the leadership of Evans’ sergeant and Cavill’s special forces captain.
This sounds like the kind of practical, nuts-and-bolts war story that could have the resonance and immediacy of THE HURT LOCKER rather than the sprawl and scope of AMERICAN SNIPER, and that provides a more nuanced look at what "boots on the ground" actually means. My brother-in-law is in the military, and never forgets to remind me that the vast majority of what they do is stuff like this, bridges, plumbing, roads, and general infrastructure, not shooting the little kid who may or may not be holding a grenade. A movie like this could remind the public just how complicated and arduous the operation(s) in the Middle East were/are, and of the specific, low-key kind of heroism it takes to successfully implant yourself in a region on the other side of the world, both literally and figuratively, from where you’re from.
Plus, I’ve heard NARCOS is awesome, so hopefully this director played a part in that, and will bring whatever worked with people there over to this film.
I’m a much bigger fan of both Hoult’s and Cavill’s than I was before their big releases this summer, and the fact that all three principals are British doesn’t phase me not a hitch. They’re good actors, and this is juicy material to dig into, and I'm excited to see them dig into the moral grayness of this story. Let’s just hope the Iraqi locals are portrayed with the at least a THREE KINGS level of respect. And making one of them a love interest doesn’t count!!
