It looks like Tom Hardy is getting some company in the Dennis Lehane adaptation Animal Rescue. We previously reported that Hardy was being eyed to star in the pic as a lonely bartender who rescues a puppy from a garbage can and âbecomes the target of the dogâs abusive and mentally unstable former owner, while simultaneously getting caught in the middle of a criminal conspiracy playing out in his mob-controlled bar.â Now Deadline reports that Hardy is in final talks to topline the project, while Noomi Rapace is being offered the female lead.Bullheadâs Michael R. Roskam recently stepped in to replace Neil Burger as the filmâs director, and Fox Searchlight is eyeing a March start date in New York for production. Lehane is the author of the previously adapted novels Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River, and Shutter Island, and he penned the script for Animal Rescue based on his own short story. The filmâs action has been moved from Boston to New York.