Butler to star in new Untouchables movie

Published on Saturday 19 May 2007 00:44

THE Scottish actor Gerard Butler is set to play the role of a young Sean Connery character in his latest film.

The 38-year-old Hollywood star will recreate the part that won Sir Sean won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Butler is joining Nicholas Cage for The Untouchables: Capone Rising. He will play Jimmy Malone, a young Irish police officer.

In the original movie, which also starred Kevin Costner and was set in Prohibition-era United States, Connery died in a hail of bullets.

For Butler, the announcement at Cannes this week caps a break-out year, after his sword-and-sandals epic 300 broke box office records. This year he is lined up to appear opposite some of Hollywood's most glittering leading ladies including the two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank as well as Jodie Foster.

Variety, the trade newspaper of the film industry, reported: "Gerard Butler will star in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables: Capone Rising.

"He joins Nicolas Cage, who will play a younger version of Al Capone, the character made famous by Robert De Niro. The Untouchables: Capone Rising is a prequel to De Palma's 1987 classic The Untouchables, and will revolve around the early dealings between Capone and Irish cop Jimmy Malone, a role that garnered an Oscar for Sean Connery."

Filming is expected to begin in October.

At the moment, Butler is making Nim's Island, a fantasy story based on Wendy Orr's children's book of the same name.

Jodie Foster is the other adult lead in the film.

Butler, a former Glasgow University law student, is also the lead actor in a futuristic action adventure Game, which will begin shooting in January.

Variety reported: "The lead character, played by Butler, is a worldwide sensation, and the top-ranked warrior in a game called Slayers.

"With his every move tracked by millions, he battles to regain his identity and bring down the entire system."

And in December, Butler has a new romantic movie coming out. PS I Love You is the story of a grieving young widow, portrayed by Swank.

Her character discovers her late husband has left her a list of tasks revealed in ten monthly messages that are intended to ease her out of grief and transition her to a new life.