Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Jeff Bridges Up to Replace Jude Law in 'Jane Got a Gun'

You're probably not familiar with the - for lack of a better word - 'rough' road the indie western, Jane Got a Gun, has been on for the past couple weeks, so here's a quick recap:

• As of a month ago, Natalie Portman is set to star as Jane, a woman whose outlaw husband returns home riddled with bullets, forcing her to team with her ex-lover (Michael Fassbender) to seek revenge on the man responsible (Joel Edgerton).  Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) is set to direct with Portman also producing.

• A little more than two weeks ago, Fassbender drops out of the project, citing scheduling conflicts with X-Men: Days of Future Past (other word is he didn't get along with Ramsay).  Edgerton - being the good sport he is - decides to take on the ex-lover role Fassbender was to play, leading Jude Law to come in to play the villian role instead.

• This past Monday, Ramsay decides to no-show the first day of shooting, a not to subtle message that she's quit the project.

• Tuesday, the producers announce they've nabbed Gavin O'Connor (Warrior, the best film no one's seen) to direct the project, with a new start date of Thursday to begin shooting.

• Finally, Jude Law - being the 'good sport' he is - says screw you to the producers and quits as well, stating he signed on 'to work with Ramsay.'

So here we are today, with the film's barely two-day old director O'Connor and the producers scrambling to fill the villian role that's been vacated twice already.

Word comes that they're looking to get an actor with an 'international brand' (I guess they don't care what Americans think) and on the list are Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and a bit out of left-field choice, Jeff Bridges.

Gyllenhaal and Maguire have a history with Portman, having worked with the actress on Brothers while also being in the same age-range as Edgerton and Law, implying the role is for a young-to-middle age man.

The wild card here is Bridges who obviously doesn't fit the age-range but is one of the best actors working today.  Being that the role is for the villain - and not the ex-lover or husband (who's playing him anyway?) - it's safe to say it doesn't matter how old the guy is, as long as he's evil and can kick ass.

Stay tuned for more on this very troubled production as maybe by next week Portman will have dropped out with Betty White taking her place (that was a joke).

Source: LA Times