October 22, 2008

50 Cent To Star Alongside Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham In '13'

By Elisabeth Rappe (MTV.com)

50 Cent, Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham have signed on to star opposite Sam Riley in 13, a remake of the French film 13 Tzameti, according to Variety. The film is being written and directed by Géla Babluani, who wrote and directed the original.

The plot centers on a naive young man who decides to steal a package and follow its accompanying instructions, hoping for a big payoff. But when he arrives at his destination, he finds a secret and ugly world of Russian roulette, where men are gambling behind closed doors on the lives of other men. And he's been trailed there by an edgy, angry cop.

The film will start shooting in mid-November in and around New York City. There's no word yet on which actors are playing which roles.

50, fresh from the Robert De Niro/ Al Pacino joint Righteous Kill, joins an impressive roster of co-stars. Rourke is riding a possible Oscar wave for his acclaimed performance in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, and rising actor Sam Riley recently garnered buzz for his portrayal of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in Anton Corbijn's Control. And Transporter star Statham is still one of the hottest tickets around when it comes to action movies. 13 Tzameti was the recipient of the prestigious Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2006.

50 Cent, along with Ludacris, Kanye West, Hinder and others, will be performing Friday night at A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE, presented by MTV's Choose or Lose campaign and CNN to support veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The show Friday at 8pm ET on MTV. 50's new album, Before I Self Destruct, is slated for release on December 9; his film of the same name is slated to drop on the same day.