Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf & Jason Clarke Look ‘Lawless’ In New Picture

(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)

The first image of Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke as the three brothers in John Hillcoat‘s gangster drama Lawless have been released this week, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Formerly known as The Wettest County, and not to be confused with Terrence Mallick’s upcoming previously titled Lawless, the film is an adaptation of the 2008 historical novel The Wettest County in the World written by Matt Bondurant. With screenplay by Nick Cave, the film follows these three brothers who find their bootlegging business under threat in a Prohibition-era Franklin County, Virginia.

Whilst we’ve already seen pictures of Hardy and LaBeouf on their own, this latest image is the first of the brothers together, and this time around includes newcomer Australian actor Clarke, who is also set to star in Kathryn Bigelow‘s Zero Dark Thirty and Baz Luhrmann‘s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, both of which are set to be released late this year.

Here’s the official synopsis thanks to The Weinstein Company:

Gangster meets Western in LAWLESS, the true story of the freewheelin’ Bondurant brothers, bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands. This is the story of the rural hard-men that created the big city gangsters. Brazen and fearless, these young rebel brothers helped build the American Dream in this exuberant tale of what was to become crime’s first major gold rush. The youngest brother, JACK (Shia LaBeouf), fancies himself the next Al Capone; he dreams of sharp suits, guns, girls and fast cars, no matter the cost. Ambitious and impulsive, he takes the family’s small-scale moonshining operation to the big leagues, to impress the gorgeous but off-limits Amish girl, BERTHA (Mia Wasikowska). The middle brother, HOWARD (Jason Clarke), is the brawling muscle – loyal but reckless – never one to turn down a taste of white lightning. And eldest brother, FORREST (Tom Hardy), reluctantly accepts the changing times with grace and grit, leading the family with strength of character and silent determination against the beginnings of corporate greed. An enigmatic and stunning MAGGIE (Jessica Chastain) comes to town with a hidden past, igniting his passion and almost saving him in the process. As the Bondurants’ legend grows, so too does the danger, and it’s not long before the brothers must face the consequences of their transgressions, or rewrite the myth and the law themselves.

Also starring Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Guy Pearce, Noah Taylor and Dane DeHaan, Lawless is set to be released on 31st August.