It's difficult to do military-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) films because they almost always seem to boil down to "Support the Troops".  It's a message that doesn't really work with War on Terror movies because this isn't Vietnam; everyone is supporting the troops.  While there's certainly not enough attention paid to soldiers returning with PTSD, films like Stop-Loss and In the Valley of Elah become statements rather than stories where we don't care about the characters and their struggles.  PTSD feels like it's being used as a dramatic crutch rather than being honestly explored.  More damning, it feels like a safe way to explore the Iraq War—commentary without controversy.  Hopefully, Greg Williams' upcoming film Samarkand will avoid the pitfalls of other PTSD films.  According to Deadline, Tom Hardy has signed on to star in the film, so that's a good start.

Hit the jump for more details.

Deadline reports that "Hardy will portray an SAS soldier returning from operations in the Middle East. Suffering from PTSD, he has a most difficult time reintegrating from the battlefield back into society."  I'm curious to see how Williams plans to break the mold, but he has a great lead actor with Hardy, who can absolutely handle the dramatic challenges of the role.

Samarkand finds itself on Hardy's busy schedule.  He's about to start filming on the adaptation of Dennis Lehane's Animal Rescue opposite Noomi Rapace.  He's also co-starring with Rapace in the Soviet thriller Child 44.  Hardy is also attached to an adaptation of the video game Splinter Cell, the real-time thriller Locke, and the drama Everest for director Doug Liman.