Tom Hardy to play a soldier with PTSD in 'Samarkand'

The thinking is that Tom Hardy is on the cusp of having a great breakthrough into the A-list, but those same people have been saying that for two years. With the exception of The Dark Knight Rises, which wasn't really successful because of him, Hardy's films haven't performed all that well. Even the ones with great critical praise, like Warrior and Lawless, have mostly been ignored by audiences. But with about a half dozen projects cooking right now, this may be his time to shine. The latest film added to his crowded slate will have him tackling the controversial issue of post traumatic stress disorder.

Deadline reports that Hardy will star in Samarkand, in which he'll play a soldier returning from the Middle East, afflicted with PTSD and having trouble working back into society. Hardy is familiar with the director, Greg Williams, having worked with him on the 2011 short film, Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother. Williams is making his feature-length debut, with his brother Olly co-writing the screenplay.

When Hardy will fit this into his schedule is anybody's guess. He'll next be shooting the real-time thriller, Locke; then he hooks up with Noomi Rapace and Matthias Schoenaerts for Animal Rescue; followed by the adaptation of Child 44. Beyond that he's set to star in Everest for Doug Liman, he'll play agent Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell; and finally he's got a pair of anti-poaching films with Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio. Phew!