Jon Bernthal To Star In Adventure Film The Peanut Butter Falcon

The Punisher star Jon Bernthal has found his next role. Variety reports that the actor has signed on to join the adventure-drama The Peanut Butter Falcon, opposite Shia LaBeouf. Other new additions to the cast of the film include John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, and Yelawolf. 

There is no word on who Bernthal will play in the film, which follows Zak (newcomer Zachary Gottsagen, who is the inspiration for the movie), a young man with Down syndrome who runs away from the nursing home where he lives so that he can try his hand at becoming a professional wrestler. This mission leads him to attend the Saltwater Redneck wrestling school, where a small-time outlaw who is also on the run (LaBeouf) becomes Zak's unlikely coach and ally.

Dakota Johnson, best known for the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, and Bruce Dern, a two-time Oscar nominee for Coming Home and Nebraska, had previously joined the cast of the film in undisclosed roles. The movie is set to be directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, who were previously best known for their documentary filmmaking, including the short Alex Honnold: At Home Off the Wall. The pair also penned the script for the film.

Bernthal is a versatile actor who has lent his talents to quite a few huge name properties, including Sicario, Fury, The Walking Dead, and The Wolf of Wall Street. He became well-known to comic book fans recently when he landed the role of the Punisher on Daredevil's second season; he is set to reprise the part in his own series, which will likely be due out at some point later this year. The actor also recently had a role in Edgar Wright's Baby Driver.

Hawkes, meanwhile, is an Oscar nominee for his supporting turn in Winter's Bone; he also holds a Golden Globe nomination for his work on The Sessions. The actor's more recent roles include Everest and Inside Amy Schumer, with upcoming turns set in the dramas End of Sentence and Unlovable. Church, an Oscar nominee for Sideways who is known for memorable turns in Divorce, Spider-Man 3, and George of the Jungle, also has an upcoming part in the drama Crash Pad. Yelawolf, the last new addition, is a musician with limited acting experience; his songs, though, have appeared in properties like Sons of Anarchy, Girls, and Ride Along.

Thus far, The Peanut Butter Falcon has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, with LaBeouf bringing public attention to the film earlier this month when he was arrested for public drunkenness, obstruction, and disorderly conduct while filming in Georgia. However, with the impressive cast and behind-the-scenes talent being assembled for the movie, it seems like it is bound to be a genuine and moving tale. While we wait to learn more about the movie, which does not have a release date yet, see some of the other films that will blow you away this year.