The cast of the Niels Arden Oplev directed action thriller Dead Man Down is really shaping up to be a good one, with Colin Farrell and Noomi Repace already on board to star, and Dominic Cooper in talks to play a role. Now it looks like the movie has its villain. Set to play Farrell’s character’s opposition is Terrence Howard.

Reuniting the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s director Niels Arden Opiev with its star (Noomi Rapace), Dead Man Down will have Farrell playing a man who aims to infiltrate a crime syndicate to avenge the death of his family. Rapace is set to play a “scarred beauty” who knows something about Farrell’s character’s past. Meanwhile, Cooper is in talks to play Farrell’s “partner on the street.”

According to Variety, Howard is joining the film to play the role of Alphonse Hoyt, “a charming but brutal crimelord who is accustomed to being feared but is thrown off guard when a mysterious tormenter (Farrell) starts sabotaging his business from within and picks off his men one by one as revenge for the death of his family.”

I generally associate Howard with good-guy roles, like Rhodey in Iron Man or Djay in Hustle & Flow. Djay wasn’t exactly on the right side of the law in terms of his work, but he wasn’t a villain. We could also go back further and give a nod to some of Howard’s 90’s work, which includes playing Jackie Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream (a TV movie I have to watch anytime I come across it), or the drum-playing Louis Russ in Mr. Holland’s Opus. None of these characters were crimelord-types. That said, this sounds a great role for him, and his participation is just one more reason to keep an eye out for this movie.

Dead Man Down begins production later this month.

早前曾有瑞典版《龙纹身的女孩》导演涅尔斯·阿登·欧普勒夫新片消息传出，这部名为《Dead Man Down》的动作惊悚片颇受影迷关注，影片由J.H. Wyman（《危机边缘》）担任编剧，尼尔·H·莫瑞兹（《青蜂侠》、《全面回忆》、《龙虎少年队》）担任制片人。男女主角分别由柯林·法瑞尔和导演爱将、原版“龙纹身女孩”劳米·拉佩斯饰演，之后英国男星多米尼克·库珀（《我与梦露的一周》、《美国队长》）加盟，如今《综艺》曝出新消息，好莱坞男星泰伦斯·霍华德将在片中出演大反派。

《Dead Man Down》的背景设置在纽约，法瑞尔扮演的Victor是城中黑帮大佬的得力干将，拉佩斯则扮演一个神秘的、有着复杂过去的美女Beatrice，她对法瑞尔的身世了如指掌，并对他引诱及勒索，其目的则在于复仇。伴随着阴谋与暴力，两人之间的情感发生了微妙的变化。库珀出演法瑞尔的拍档。

泰伦斯·霍华德扮演的是魅力十足，但冷酷凶残的黑帮大佬，他杀害了Victor的家人，是所有仇恨的源头。霍华德近年有影响的角色只有《钢铁侠》中托尼·斯塔克的好友Rhodey（第二部中被唐·钱德尔取代），如今能在一部阵容上佳的新片中担纲反一号，可谓是翻身好时机。他接下来的新片还有罗伯特·雷德福的《你的同伴》（希亚·拉博夫主演）和《在路上》（萨姆·赖利等主演）。