Tom Hanks Confirmed to Star in Kathryn Bigelow’s TRIPLE FRONTIER

Last month, we reported that Tom Hanks was “seriously considering” a starring role in Triple Frontier, the new film from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker).  Producer Charles Roven now tells ComingSoon that Hanks is officially on board.  Roven added that they were still casting the other roles and they were aiming for a mid-March 2011 shoot.  He also referred to the project as “Triple Frontier” and not as its other rumored title, “Sleeping Dogs”.

Written by Hurt Locker scribe Mark Boal, the film centers on a border zone of South America known as “la triple frontera”, and is a haven for drug cartels.  There’s a strong Middle Eastern community who have long been linked to Islamic extremists and their money laundering activities.  Hit the jump for more on Triple Frontier and a refresher on Hanks’ other projects.

Other big-name actors have previously been named in connection with the project including Sean Penn, Denzel Washington, Javier Bardem, Christian Bale, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Renner, and Johnny Depp.  The film reportedly contains five major roles.  It’s clear that Bigelow is now using her Oscar-clout to snap up some A-list talent and I couldn’t be happier about that.

As for Hanks, he’s also currently attached to an adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close directed by Stephen Daldry (The Reader) and the Wachowski Siblings’ adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.  As we reported yesterday, Atlas is currently set to shoot next summer, which would allow Hanks to shoot Frontier in the spring.  His next film, Larry Crowne (which he also co-wrote and directed), is set to open on July 1, 2011.