Seemingly not content to follow up his critically lauded Shame with a cast that only includes such names as Chiwitel Ejifior, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Taran Killam, Scoot McNairy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ruth Negga, and Adepero Oduye, filmmaker Steve McQueen has just gone ahead and thrown another batch of incredible talent into the giant amazing stew that is Twelve Years a Slave. This time around, he’s mixed in no less than Paul Giamatti, Garret Dillahunt, and Sarah Paulson, a wealth of talent that would stand alone just fine, but the addition of which makes Twelve Years the most skill-laden cast of the year. I never say this about a film I’ve yet to see (much less one that’s not even been filmed yet), but – all of the Oscars. All of the Oscars. Based on the true story of Solomon Northrup, Ejifior will play a free man who is sold into slavery and who remains a slave for twelve years (yes, the title of the film should have clued you into that).

Steve McQueen is a proven visual artist and up and coming film director who I’m keeping my eye on very closely. So far he’s made two very challenging, and very rewarding films. The first was called Hunger, and it was about the famous 1981 IRA hunger strikes in a Northern Ireland prison. The second is a forthcoming feature called Shame, and it’s a very frank look at the life of a man who suffers from sexual compulsion. Both films are visually beautiful, experimental in their approach to filmmaking, and starring Michael Fassbender. I would highly recommend checking them out. It’s already been reported that McQueen’s next film will be a telling of the life of Solomon Northrup called 12 Years a Slave, and that Chiwetel Ejiofor will be starring. Northrup was a free man kidnapped from Washington in 1841 and forced into slavery for twelve years until he was rescued from a Louisiana plantation in 1853. The film will be based off his biography of the same name. The new information being reported about the film is that Fassbender has signed on to the cast as well, re-teaming him with McQueen for the third time. There isn’t any word on who Fassbender will be playing, but that doesn’t really matter. Any word of Fassbender and McQueen working together is big news in my book, no matter what the project. While McQueen is one of the directors who I’m very excited to watch develop over the next few years, Fassbender is

Visual artist turned visual artist who directs feature films Steve McQueen turned a lot of heads with his 2008 feature debut Hunger. It was a visual experience chock full of beautiful photography, great performances, and experimental filmmaking. His second film Shame, which stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and supposedly explores sexuality and human nature, is getting ready to debut in Toronto and Venice come their September film festivals. Before we even get a chance to take in that film, however, comes word of what McQueen plans to work on next.