It has been a rather quiet film year for Joseph Gordon-Levitt so far this year, but this autumn he is set to return with The Walk, which is already being tipped as one of the movies not to miss this autumn.
The Walk
The Walk is set to premiere at the New York Film Festival later this week and will mark the return of Robert Zemeckis to the director's chair. Zemeckis has brought us movies such as Cast Away, Forrest Gump, and Back To The Future during his career, but The Walk is his first feature since the success of Flight back in 2013.
This is one of two biopic film projects that Gordon-Levitt has on the horizon as he takes on the role of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit. This is the first time that the actor has teamed up with Zemeckis as they tell the story of Petit's attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in 1974.
Gordon-Levitt is one of the most exciting actors around and he has been moving between acting and directing in the last few years. It is great to see him back in front of the camera and The Walk is already being tipped as a potential Oscar contender.
Gordon-Levitt has never found himself in the Best Actor Oscar race - could this be the year and the film that finally bags him a nomination? I guess we are going to have to wait and see. His other project Snowden - in which he plays Edward Snowden - is surrounded in similar Oscar whispers.
However, back to the walk, and a great cast has been assembled for the film as Gordon-Levitt is joined by Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, and Ben Schwartz.
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Centre towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit (Gordon-Levitt) and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.
The Walk comes seven years after the Oscar success of documentary Man on Wire - which was based on the book by Petit and saw James Marsh in the director's chair. I cannot wait to see Gordon-Levitt embody this role and Zemeckis being this story and this amazing stunt to life.
Quite whether The Walk will have the same Oscar success that Man on Wire enjoyed - it went on to win Best Documentary Feature - remains to be seen but there is some excitement building around this film. I guess we are going to have to see how the movie is received when it premieres in New York later this week.
The Walk is a movie that I have been looking forward to this year and it looks set to be a compelling drama that is not to be missed this October.
The Walk is released 9th October.
Tagged in Robert Zemeckis Joseph Gordon-Levitt