The King: According to Variety, William Hurt has joined the cast of ContentFilm's The King, starring Gael Garcia Bernal.

He will play a Baptist pastor whose life and new family are thrown into turmoil by the reappearance of his long-lost son (Garcia Bernal). Laura Harring plays his wife, Pell James and Paul Dano are their teenage children.

Hurt replaces Sam Shepard, who fell out of the production after it was delayed by Gotham-based ContentFilm's merger with British production company Winchester Entertainment in March.

The pic was a week away from pre-production in April when Content was forced to put it on ice. Content is fully financing the movie.

The $5 million movie, shooting on location in Austin, Texas, is the feature debut of New York-based British doc director James Marsh.