Ron Perlman plays a tough, saddle-happy gang type in TV’s Sons Of Anarchy, but he’ll be swapping bikes for horses for a new take on Owen Wister’s Western novel The Virginian, which will also star country singer-turned-actor Trace Adkins.
If the title sounds familiar, it’s because the book has been adapted for the screen several times since it was first published back in 1902. The most famous versions have included the 1929 Gary Cooper film and the long-running TV series, which was aired on NBC from 1962 until 1971.
Adkins will play the enforcer for a cattle baron (Perlman), who digs into a cattle-rustling problem afflicting the local community and finds more than he bargained for.
Producers Jack and Joseph Nasser are backing this one, with Thomas Makowski directing from Bob Thiekle’s script. Shooting kicks off this week in Vancouver.
Perlman will make his traditional appearance in Guillermo del Toro’s latest, Pacific Rim, which lands here on July 12 and has just released a new poster. He’s also worked on indie movies Angry Little God, Kid Cannabis and Poker Night. Adkins, who has appeared in the likes of The Lincoln Lawyer,** **is lined up for Civil War miniseries To Appomattox.