Iranian-American filmmaker Ramin Bahrani is cooking up a new project, and it's actually shooting next month, with a great cast.
"Last Meals" will star Mads Mikkelsen in the lead role, alongside Boyd Holbrook, Tessa Thompson and Michael Shannon. The film is based on a screenplay by Justin Piasecki ("Relay"). HanWay Films is handling international sales. No studio has hopped onboard just yet.
In "Last Meals," Mikkelsen stars as Walter Karat, a disgraced former White House chef now preparing final meals for death row inmates at a maximum security prison. His rigidly ordered routine unravels when he encounters Reed (Holbrook), a prisoner who rejects both the food and the attention Walter offers him. The friction between them gives way to an unexpected bond, and Walter comes to suspect Reed is innocent — a conviction that sends him searching for the truth. Thompson plays Hannah, an ambitious local food critic pulled into Walter's orbit, and Shannon plays Governor George Callahan, whose role proves pivotal in the clemency fight at the story's core.
Mikkelsen, who will next be seen in Martin Scorsese’s “What Happens at Night,” rose to prominence through his leading role in Bryan Fuller’s “Hannibal” series and his portrayal of the villain Le Chiffre in “Casino Royale.” His most notable credits include performances in two Thomas Vinterberg films (“Another Round,” “The Hunt”) as well as collaborations with Nicolas Winding Refn (“Pusher,” “Valhalla Rising”).
Holbrook last played Johnny Cash in “A Complete Unknown,” Thompson was last seen in “Hedda” and Shannon, well, he’s Michael Shannon, a Jeff Nichols regular, incredible in “Take Shelter.” His other credits include “Revolutionary Road,” “Bug,” “Nocturnal Animals,” “Boardwalk Empire.”
Bahrani, who helmed the popular Netflix movie "The White Tiger," was once an uber-independent filmmaker in the early aughts, much praised and supported by the late film critic Roger Ebert. His films, shot on shoestring budgets, were quite good, including "Man Push Cart," "Chop Shop" and "Goodbye Solo." He followed that up with the underrated "99 Homes," starring Shannon. Then he graduated to the major studios in 2018 and totally bombed with the HBO adaptation "Fahrenheit 451."
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.