Vidhu Vinod Chopra Ropes Academy Award Nominee Mickey Rourke in his Hollywood debut 'Broken Horses'

With incredible series of acclaimed films to his name, Mr.Vidhu Vinod Chopra is ready to mark his directorial debut in Hollywood with his ambitious project 'Broken Horses'. His hunt for the lead actor is finally over. The filmmaker has signed on this year's Golden Globe Best Actor winner and Oscar's contender Mickey Rourke ('The Wrestler') for this film.

An excited Mr. 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 onboard 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 '64 Squares' and script consultant Jason Richman of 'Bangkok Dangerous', 'Swing Vote'. Mark Johnson of 'Chronicles of Narnia', 'The Notebook' and 'Rain Man' fame is the executive producer of the film, while Chris Buchinsky of 'Hancock' and 'Spiderman 2' is the story-board artist. The film is expected to be shot across New Mexico, New York and Albuquerque.

All the very best Mr. Chopra for your maiden Hollywood venture; we hope you hit the Oscars straight away!