Principal photography began today on the Relativity Media feature film ‘Out of the Furnace,” starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Woody Harrelson and Forest Whitaker and directed by Scott Cooper.

Cooper will be collaborating with director of photography Masanobu Takayanagi, production designer Thérèse DePrez, art director Gary Kosko, costume designer Kurt & Bart, editor David Rosenbloom and stunt coordinator Ben Bray.

Most of the filming will take place in the “mill towns” of Braddock, North Braddock and Rankin, Pennsylvania and other filming will take place in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.

The official synopsis of the film is below:

The currently-titled ‘Out of the Furnace’ tells the story about fate, circumstance and justice. Russell (Bale) and his younger brother Rodney (Affleck) live in the economically depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in prison, his brother is lured into one of the most violent and ruthless crime rings in the Northeast – a mistake that will almost cost him everything. Once released, Russell must choose between his own freedom, or risk it all to seek justice for his brother.

Saldana plays Bale’s love interest Lena Warren and Shepard plays Red, Russell and Rodney Baze’s uncle. Harrelson plays the brutal crime boss Harlan DeGroat and Whitaker plays Wesley Barnes, the Sheriff of Braddock.

Relativity will handle the U.S. distribution of the film; Red Granite will handle international sales. Red Granite’s international President Danny Dimbort and Co-President Christian Mercuri will start shopping “Out of the Furnace” to buyers in Cannes next month.

(Photo credit: Asim Bharwani(modenadude), Flickr Creative Commons)