The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson is in talks to join Benicio Del Toro in the upcoming Pablo Escobar drama Paradise Lost.
As we reported when Del Toro joined the project, the film is inspired by true events, and follows Nick, a young surfer who visits his brother in Colombia and falls madly in love with a beautiful local girl called Maria. Their romance seems idyllic until he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar (played by Del Toro).
Deadline reports Josh Hutcherson is in talks to fill the role of Nick, who is actually the lead in the film that will co-star Del Toro. Italian actor Andrea di Stefano (Life of Pi), wrote the screenplay and is set to make his directorial debut with the project.
Production on the film has been set to commence in March, between filming on Catching Fire and the two-parter, Mockingjay.
Producer Dimitri Rassam described the unique take on the character, saying it “will have a narrative structure in the vein of The Last King of Scotland, weaving Nick and Maria’s romance with Nick’s ambivalent and destructive relationship with Escobar.” It will be interesting to see who gets cast as Maria, with two high-profile stars already on board. Paradise Lost will have an 11-week production in Panama.