Bale Drops Weight Again For "Concrete Island"

Bale in "The Machinist"

Bale Drops Weight Again For "Concrete Island"

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Before actor Christian Bale bulked up to 200 pounds of pure muscle to play Bruce Wayne in 2005's "Batman Begins," the actor transformed his body in the opposite way, slimming down to 90-something pounds to play the lead role in "The Machinist."

Bale was literally almost unrecognizable, but anyone who has followed the actor over his career knows that he is dedicated to method acting and will shed or gain weight whenever needed.

According to We Got This Covered, Bale will apparently do that once again and re-team with his "The Machinist" director Brad Anderson for the project "Concrete Island."

Based on the novel by J.G. Ballard ("Empire of the Sun"), the story follows an architect who finds himself stranded on a man-made island in the middle of a highway intersection after a car crash. Surviving only on what is in his car, his mind begins to deteriorate before realizing that he wants to spend the rest of his life on his concrete island.

The site describes the film as: "A twisted adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the story’s protagonist, Robert Maitland, a wealthy architect, finds himself stranded in a manmade ‘island’ (a section of fenced-off wasteland in the middle of a motorway intersection) between the Westway and M4 Motorway in West London, forced to survive on only what is in his crashed Jaguar and what he is able to find. As his condition degrades, it soon becomes difficult to determine whether Maitland is finding sanity or watching his mind fall apart as he finds companions on the island and eventually decides to remain there and forsake his former life."

Bale is already familiar with Ballard's work, having starred in "Empire of the Sun" many years ago, which was an adaptation of one of the author's novels. The project sounds interesting and Anderson seems like someone who could turn an obscure story like that into something great, a la "The Machinist."

Over the years, Bale has proved to be one of the best actors in Hollywood and I'm thrilled to see him finally receive his first Oscar nomination this year. He probably will win the award for his role in "The Fighter," which was another instance of the actor dropping weight for a role.

The writer of "The Machinist," Scott Kosar, has adapted the script for "Concrete," which will shoot later this year.