With
a
series
of
acclaimed
films
to
his
name,
Vidhu
Vinod
Chopra
is
ready
to
mark
his
directorial
debut
in
Hollywood
with
his
ambitious
project
Broken
Horses
and
his
hunt
for
the
lead
actor
is
finally
over.
The
filmmaker
has
signed
on
this
year's
Golden
Globe
Best
Actor
winner
and
Academy
Award
nominee
Mickey
Rourke
(The
Wrestler)
for
this
film.
Chopra
also
revealed
that
he
had
seen
a
special
screening
of
Rourke's
The
Wrestler
before
the
awards
fever
began.
"I
was
bowled
over
by
his
performance.
Both
of
us
had
an
instant
connect
when
we
met
in
Los
Angeles.
He
was
my
first
choice
and
was
finalized
even
before
he
won
the
Golden
Globe;
it's
great
to
have
him
on
board
for
one
of
the
key
roles
in
the
film.
Mickey
deserves
all
the
acclaim
he
is
getting
and
I
hope
he
wins
the
Oscar
as
well," said
the
maverick
director.
Broken
Horses,
belonging
to
the
gangster
genre
with
a
screenplay
based
on
an
original
story
by
Chopra
himself,
is
the
work
of
award-winning
writer
Abhijat
Joshi
(Lage
Raho
Munnabhai,
Eklavya
)
and
script
consultant
Jason
Richman
(Bangkok
Dangerous,
Swing
Vote).
Mark
Johnson
(Chronicles
of
Narnia,
The
Notebook
and
Rain
Man)
is
the
executive
producer
of
the
film,
while
Chris
Buchinsky
(Hancock,
Spiderman
2)
is
the
story-board
artiste.
The
film
is
expected
to
be
shot
across
New
Mexico,
New
York
and
Albuquerque.
Story first published: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 15:03 [IST]