Filmstage.com had the chance to talk to executive producer Jeff Waxman, producer/production coordinator Julie Hartley, and various crew members during the PA Film Industry Association meeting that took place in Pittsburgh on Sunday, and they shared some views on the project.
[...] Waxman repeatedly compared the film to The Fighter, which also featured Bale in an Oscar-winning performance. In past reports, Furnace was said to have a "No Country For Old Men vibe," so this new development changes some expectations.
They also touched on the importance of the film's setting; the screenplay was originally set in 1986 Indiana, but according to Waxman, director Scott Cooper chose to adapt it for modern day Braddock, PA (or as they refer to it in press material "the Rust Belt") and transform the two brother characters – played by Bale and Affleck – into "third-generation steel workers."
Apparently, Cooper fell in love with the area – which is located just outside of Pittsburgh – when he filmed his film Crazy Heart there, and from what Waxman described, they're infusing a lot of the local color, including filming on location at local steel mills and hiring actual steel workers on as extras for certain scenes. [...]
The movie is set for a Fall 2013 release.
