Ben Kingsley has signed on to co-star in Wake, a thriller about a sociopath with no fear (Bruce Willis) who returns to his childhood home for a funeral, only to find that—of course—it has come under attack and he must save the family that kicked him out years ago.
There’s no information yet on Kingsley’s role, but it’s safe to assume that he’s not playing the dead guy who everyone is mourning. Maybe he’s portraying Willis’ disapproving father—who has seen Die Hard and knows that a hero is much more interesting when he’s afraid—or maybe he’s the villain laying siege to the island. After all, Kingsley has already proven his mettle portraying fierce antagonists, from Don Logan in Sexy Beast to the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 (that one gets an asterisk—the man has range). Thus, seeing him go toe-to-toe with Willis is probably the best-case scenario.
Wake will be directed by John Pogue, whose 2014 horror film The Quiet Ones was ironically one of the loudest movies of the year. That instinct will serve Pogue well as he’s blowing up an island.