Adrien Brody to Menace ‘Motor City’

Adrien Brody may have an Oscar for Best Actor, but what he doesn't have is a type or a steady line of work. Hollywood doesn't seem to know what to do with him, though he's been great in things like 'The Pianist,' and 'The Brothers Bloom.' It looks like he's going to flex some muscles with his next role, as he's up for the bad guy in Albert Hughes's 'Motor City.'

He would be playing the bad guy against Gerard Butler, according to Variety, with the film scheduled to start shooting next month, with an April 2013 release date. The part was originally to be played by Gary Oldman, but perhaps Oldman realized he's done this thing one too many times.

Brody has had lots of chances to click, and has worked with some good directors, like Woody Allen and Wes Anderson post-Oscar, but more than anything he's been attached to projects that should have been bigger or better than they were. Films like Peter Jackson's remake of 'King Kong' and the remake/sequel 'Predators,' or even M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Village' -- which marked the moment audiences turned against M. Night. None of this is Brody's fault, but it makes for a filmography of near-misses.