David O. Russell is gathering quite a troupe of actors as of late as he will reunite with his Oscar-winning star of The Fighter and the two stars of his Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook along with several others for his next film, which is currently untitled, but has been referred to in the past as American Bullshit.
Today Deadline announced Silver Linings star and Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence has joined the cast that already starred her fellow Oscar nominee and Silver Linings co-star Bradley Cooper, as well as Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams and Louis C.K. Yeah, not too shabby.
The film, written by Eric Singer, centers on the 1970s FBI sting operation called Abscam, which led to the conviction of a United States Senator, five members of the House of Representatives, one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The story sounds a lot like the plot of Argo, although this time Hollywood wasn’t brought in on the scam as the FBI worked with convicted con artist Melvin Weinberg (Bale) to set up a fictional company headed by a fictional Middle Eastern sheikh in an attempt to trap corrupt public officials. The word “Abscam” comes as a contraction of “Abdul scam”, Abdul being the name of the fake sheikh at the core of the sting.
Adams will play Weinberg’s partner in crime and mistress, Cooper plays federal agent Jimmy Boyle, Renner plays leader of the New Jersey state assembly and Lawrence will play Weinberg’s wife.
While this will be the second time Lawrence, Cooper and Russell have teamed, this is now three films in a row for Lawrence and Cooper who will also star in Susanne Bier’s hotly anticipated adaptation, Serena.
