PremiumChristian Bale to play the infamous pastor-turned-drug smuggler in The Church of the Living Dangerously
The film is based on David Kushner’s Vanity Fair article of the same name that was published in 2019.
Last Updated: 10.08 PM, Aug 26, 2021
Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale will be seen playing a ‘drug smuggling preacher’ in The Church of the Living Dangerously, the feature adaptation of David Kushner’s Vanity Fair article of the same name. New Regency has gained the film rights to the 2019 article.
Oscar-winning writer Charles Randolf, who won the Academy Award for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for co-writing the script of The Big Short with Adam McKay, has been roped in to write the script of The Church of the Living Dangerously.
The American Psycho actor will bankroll the film with New Regency and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Eric Robinson of The Gotham Group. Deadline reported that Randolph and Kushner are executive producers of the film along with Margaret Riley.
The Batman Begins star will essay the role of John Lee Bishop, the infamous pastor who had a rough, unpleasant childhood and grew up to be a pastor of The Living Hope Church, and got swept into drug smuggling. The premise of the film charts the bishop’s life like his strained relationship with his son David, alcoholism that he developed while trying to understand his son’s addiction to meth and heroin, which ultimately led him to a downward spiral into the world of drug trafficking. He was eventually apprehended while smuggling drugs for a Mexican cartel, landing in jail for five years.
Bale has wowed cinephiles and critics alike with his acting chops in films like The Fighter, The Machinist, and American Hustle, and considering his persona and acting skills, there’s enough scope for the Dark Knight actor to hit the bull’s eye again.
The actor, who was last seen in critically-acclaimed films like the sports drama Ford V Ferrari and the biographical black comedy-drama Vice, has wrapped up the shoot for David O Russell’s new movie. The Golden Globe-winning actor will also play the supervillain Gorr the God Butcher in the Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder, helmed by Taika Watiti. Bale also has Scott Cooper’s Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye lined up, which will be produced by Bale.