Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac to Star in Historical Romance ‘The Promise’

Christian Bale (The Fighter) and Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year) have been cast as opposite sides of love triangle for the epic romance The Promise, according to The Wrap. Hotel Rwanda filmmaker Terry George is directing from a screenplay co-written by Robin Swicord (Memoirs of a Geisha) and himself. 

The story takes place in the years between the Armenian Genocide (1915) and the fall of the Ottoman Empire (1922) and follows the love story between the young, sophisticated Ana and two ideologically warring suitors (Bale, Isaac). Bale will play Chris, an experienced American journalist with a passion for covering the danger of combat and a crumbling world. Isaac will play Michael, a medical student held back emotionally by old-world tradition. The real war happening before their eyes will be accompanied by internal skirmishes as well as a war between the sexes.

The historical backdrop of the Armenian Genocide is a subject that hits close to home for Irish filmmaker George, who was a guest of the Armenian State Pedagogical University in 2013. After encountering the tales of devastation brought by this war, he found comparisons to the Rwandan Genocide, which he had previously chronicled in his Oscar-winning film Hotel Rwanda.

Bale has a history with culturally diverse war films. His feature debut was in the Japanese occupation WWII story Empire of the Sun, which was followed by the Vietnam War POW film Rescue Dawn, another Japanese story The Flowers of War, and last year’s Egyptian and Biblical uprising epic Exodus: Gods and Kings. He will next be seen in two Terrence Malick films, Knight of Cups and Weightless, as well as the live-action Jungle Book: Origins.

Isaac is coming away from two star-making years. After starring in the well-received films Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, and Ex Machina, Isaac is due for even more recognition once he is seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and X-Men: Apocalypse. Isaac has also caught the attention of HBO, as he is starring in their latest mini-series Show Me a Hero.