**The Low Dweller **is one of those scripts that blaze up a fiery hype when it first emerges, sputters for a while, then crackles again when talent gets attached. Now Brad Ingelsby’s baby has been handed to Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper for a re-write before heading to the screen. It'll also have a new title: Out of the Furnace.
Having first pinged the Holly-radar back in 2008, Ingelsby’s script had several things going for it, including an intriguing back-story (the writer was living with his parents and making a living at his dad’s insurance firm when it was first sold) and interest from Leonardo DiCaprio and Ridley Scott, which helped secure it a home at Relativity Media.
Since then, both DiCaprio and Scott have dropped out (though they remain attached as producers) and the screenplay has been through the hands of at least one director (Rupert Sanders, who is now preparing to make Snow White and the Huntsman.)
Cooper seems like a decent match for the material, which follows a man named Slim trying to get on the straight and narrow after being released from prison, only to discover his brother has been murdered and deciding to avenge the crime. It’s said to have a No Country for Old Men tone and feel to it, and Cooper showed a solid grasp of characters looking for redemption with Crazy Heart. Fingers crossed the film finally gets to the screen…