Stephan James, Ashton Sanders Among Cast In Vietnam War Film ‘The Things They Carried’

Deadline reports that at this year’s virtual AFM, it’s been announced that Tye Sheridan (Mud), Oscar-nominee Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Golden Globe-nominee Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk), Bill Skarsgard (It Chapter One & Two), Pete Davidson (The King Of Staten Island), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), Martin Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven), Moises Arias (Monos), and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) have been set as the impressive ensemble for Vietnam war movie The Things They Carried.

Rupert Sanders (Snow White And The Huntsman) will direct the feature adaptation of Tim O’Brien’s acclaimed collection of stories about a platoon of young soldiers and their experiences on the front lines during the Vietnam War.

The script was adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan) and Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

Blue chip firm MadRiver has boarded world sales rights and will launch the buzz title this week for the AFM ahead of a planned early 2021 shoot in Thailand. CAA Media Finance is arranging financing and will co-rep North American rights.

The project hails from Tom Hardy’s production outfit Hardy Son & Baker and LA-based production and rep firm MJZ with the latter’s David Zander (Spring Breakers) producing alongside Hardy and Dean Baker for Hardy Son & Baker (Taboo). Executive producer is Amy T. Hu of MJZ.

Pulitzer Prize-finalist O’Brien served in Vietnam in the late 1960s and his experiences course through his work. In The Things They Carried, he tells the story of the young men of Alpha Company, a platoon of soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the War. Trekking from village to village amidst chaos and confusion, the young men struggle to navigate a growing labyrinth of physical, mental, and emotional terrains as they battle for the survival of their sanity, innocence, and each other.