Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe will star in 'The Weight'.
The two actors will appear in director Padraic McKinley's upcoming historical period drama, which will be set in Oregon in the early 1930s, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The movie - which has been written by Shelby Gaines, Matthew Chapman, and Matthew Booi based on an original story by the latter and Leo Scherman - will see the 'Boyhood' actor portray Samuel Murphy, who is imprisoned in a labour camp following the death of his wife. He wants to escape in order to regain custody of his daughter Penny but gets mixed up in a gold smuggling scheme from the facility's unscrupulous overseer Clancy (Crowe), leading to him having to navigate danger from both the wilderness and potential betrayal from his own group.
Principal photography will begin in Bavaria this summer, and the movie has secured €2 million in funding from the Bavarian regional film fund, FFF Bayern, and is set to begin principal photography in Bavaria this summer.
Ethan will be in Berlin next week for the world premiere of his latest movie, Richard Linklater's 'Blue Moon', in which he stars alongside Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott.
'Blue Moon' has been written by Robert Kaplow and tells the story of the final days of Lorenz Hart – one half of the successful Rodgers and Hart songwriting duo – in 1943.
The movie is primarily set on the opening night of 'Oklahoma!' which marked Richard Rodgers' first collaboration with Hart's replacement Oscar Hammerstein II.
The director previously said in a statement: "Robert, Ethan and I have been developing this story for over a decade and are excited and grateful that the time has come to bring this to life."
Sony Pictures Classics acquired the worldwide rights to the picture - which marks Ethan and Richard's ninth collaboration - with Sony releasing it around the globe.
A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Classics said: "Almost a year ago, Rick, Ethan, and John reached out to us with Robert Kaplow's amazing script 'Blue Moon'.
"Helping them over the following months to bring it together has been incredibly exciting and now, on the verge of production, with this fantastic cast and crew in place and Rick at the helm, we are thrilled to finally announce it and bring the film to audiences everywhere in the world."
