Sofia Boutella to Heat Up ‘Fahrenheit 451’ With Michaels Shannon, B. Jordan
As we gradually approach a Fahrenheit 451-type juncture in the real world, HBO Films has kindly taken the edge off by announcing their plans to mount a new adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel. It was surprising but enticing news when it broke a couple of months ago, boasting a flashy pair of headliners in Michael B. Jordan (portraying Guy Montag, an professional book-burner who comes to question the ethics of his work) and Michael Shannon (as Beatty, Guy’s boss and mentor who doesn’t take too kindly to his protege’s radical new thoughts). And today, in an all-too-timely casting notice, a third star has upped the profile of this big-ticket TV movie even further.
Deadline reports that hot off a wave of buzz for her starring turn as The Mummy’s undead princess, Sofia Boutella has joined the cast as Clarisse, one of Guy’s fellow subversives and perhaps ... something more. (Read: Love interest.) Though Clarisse was only 16 years old in the novel, an earlier film adaptation bumped her up to 20 years old to soften the difference between her and Guy, so this new rework’s further aging may not be too sacrilegious. But this will present Boutella with an acting challenge on an unprecedented level — heretofore, she’s been cast in strong-silent-type supporting roles (her knife-legged henchlady in Kingsman) or rendered unrecognizable by makeup, as in Star Trek Beyond. We’ll get a chance to really see what she’s made of when she works under director Ramin Bahrani, whose 99 Homes placed a greater emphasis on character than on spectacle.