The Counselor Information

The Counselor is an upcoming thriller film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, which is also his first original screenplay. The film stars Michael Fassbender, with Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem in supporting roles. The Counselor is set to be released in the United States and Canada on November 15, 2013.

The film tells the story of a lawyer, played by Fassbender, who finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.

The film will be declared in memory of the director's brother Tony Scott.

Cast

• Michael Fassbender as Counselor
• Brad Pitt as Westray
• Javier Bardem as Reiner
• Cameron Diaz as Malkina
• Penélope Cruz as Laura
• Dean Norris
• John Leguizamo
• Goran Vi?nji"?
• Rosie Perez
• Natalie Dormer

Production

Pre-production

On January 18, 2012, it was reported that novelist Cormac McCarthy had sold his first spec script, The Counselor, to Nick Wechsler, Paula Mae Schwartz, and Steve Schwartz, who had previously produced the film adaptation of McCarthy's novel The Road. On January 31, it was reported that Ridley Scott was currently considering several directorial projects, but that there was a strong possibility that The Counselor would be his next film and his follow-up to Prometheus. On February 9, it was confirmed that Scott would direct. Soon after, it was reported that Prometheus star Michael Fassbender was in talks to appear in The Counselor. On February 21, Deadline confirmed that Fassbender had taken the film's lead role: an upstanding lawyer who gets sucked into the drugs trade.

On February 24, Deadline announced that Jeremy Renner, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt were all interested in playing the villain in The Counselor. On March 8, it was said that Bardem was Scott's top choice for the role, but that Renner and Pitt were also still in contention, and that Natalie Portman was in very early discussions for the role of the protagonist's fiancee Laura. On April 8, it was confirmed that Pitt and Bardem had signed on in the Westray and Reiner supporting roles, respectively.

On April 19, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Penélope Cruz might also join the cast as the film's female lead; reuniting her on-screen with husband Bardem for the first time since the Woody Allen comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Soon afterward, it was confirmed that Cruz had officially joined the film in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Laura. On May 8, Twitch reported that Cameron Diaz has joined the film as Malkina, a role that was circled by Angelina Jolie.

Filming

Principal photography began on July 27, 2012 in London, United Kingdom. On August 20, 2012, Ridley Scott halted production of the film due to his brother Tony Scott's death. He cancelled that week's shoot in order to travel to Los Angeles to be with his brother's family. Scott returned to London to resume production on September 3.