Olivia Williams Joins Schwarzenegger’s ‘Ten’; Max Martini in Talks

David Ayer’s upcoming mystery crime-thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally titled Ten, a reference to the inspiration for Skip Woods’ script (Agatha Christie’s classic crime novel Ten Little Indians, a.k.a. And Then There Were None). The project was renamed Breacher about a month ago, but the latest THR report says it has reverted back to Ten (though, Deadline makes no mention of that in its new scoop, and still refers to the project as Breacher).

Conflicting reports over the official title aside, the film continues to assemble a motley acting ensemble that includes Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, House of Lies star Dawn Olivieri, Malin Akerman (Watchmen), and True Blood actor Joe Manganiello, who recently gained more exposure (pun intended) on the big screen in Magic Mike. Ten now counts English actress Olivia Williams and (most likely) American actor Max Martini among its numbers.

Heat Vision reports that Ten will feature Williams playing “a tenaciously cutthroat detective” who investigates the murders committed against members of a corrupt DEA team, whose ranks include all the other aforementioned actors and actresses. That description recalls Williams’ compelling performance as cutthroat corporate representative Adelle DeWitt in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse TV series, as well as her Manchurian Candidate-esque role in Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer.

Williams is also renowned for easily adapting more nurturing personas in such films as Rushmore, The Sixth Sense, and Joe Wright’s Hanna. She reunites with Wright for this fall’s lavishing period drama Anna Karenina, re-teams with her Rushmore costar Bill Murray (as FDR) in the upcoming Hyde Park on Hudson, and recently finished her role in the fantasy-adventure film The Seventh Son starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore (which is due out in 2013).

Martini, meanwhile, is negotiating to join Ten as the character Pyro, who Deadline describes as “a member of the elite DEA team” that steals money from drug cartels (and is methodically killed off thereafter, one by one). The actor is an alum of David Mamet’s TV series The Unit, plays a SEAL commander in Paul Greengrass’ upcoming Captain Phillips, and appears as a soldier of the future in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. Hence, it’s fair to say: Martini’s properly experienced for Ayer’s film.

Ayer begins principal photography on Ten this October, following the release of his visually-experimental cop tale End of Watch next month. The film marks a slight change-of-pace for Schwarzenegger, who’s been enjoying a trip down nostalgia lane with such testosterone-fueled throwbacks as The Expendables 2, Last Stand, and The Tomb this past year. That could translate into a reduced cheese factor in Ayer’s film, given his grittier storytelling tendencies.

Ten/Breacher could reach theaters by the second half of 2013.

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Source: THR, Deadline