The cast for “The Homesman” is getting more crowded. According to The Hollywood Reporter, James Spader and John Lithgow have joined the Tommy Lee Jones film. Jones co-wrote the script and is directing the movie, assembling a cast that includes Hilary Swank, Tim Blake Nelson and Meryl Streep. Set in 1855 Nebraska, the story tells of a frontier woman and a claim jumper who ferry a wagonload of women, driven insane by the harsh world of the frontier, eastward to Iowa and back to the civilized world. While details of Spader’s role are being played close to the vest, it is known he will play a swindler. The movie, being financed and co-produced by EuropaCorp, is due to shoot this spring in New Mexico. Lithgow and Streep has been frequent collaborators on the stage in the 1970s, starring in “Trelawny of the Wells”, “Secret Service” and “A Memory of Two Mondays”, but “The Homesman” will mark their first film project together.
