Hillcoat and Bale team on The Revenant

The Road director John Hillcoat is gearing himself up for yet another novel adaptation, this one entitled The Revenant by Michael Punke, says The Playlist. Based on the real life of fur trapper Hugh Glass, The Revenant recounts the toll of envy and betrayal, and the power of obsession and vengeance.

Not only is he latching himself onto the project, but screen writer Mark L. Smith is letting the rumor mill go crazy in saying that Christian Bale is in the middle of negotiations to star. Smith’s previous writing credits include The Hole and Vacancy.

If this does end up to be Hillcoat’s latest directorial project, it’ll certainly make up for the collapsed production of The Promised Land. The financial woes that hit the project were reason for it to cave in on itself, leaving the Australian director a little more time on his hands than he would want.

Bale has been a bit under the radar as of recent, mainly due to the fact that he’s been filming his role in David O. Russell’s The Fighter. The drama is about boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s (Mark Wahlberg) unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale), a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime.