According to The Hollywood Reporter, Willem Dafoe is joining Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. Bradley Cooper is headlining the Fox Searchlight production, which also counts Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett and David Strathairn as among its cast. Nightmare Alley is an adaptation of the 1946 noir novel by William Lindsay which first hit the big screen with a 1947 adaptation. Nightmare Alley is set in a world of carnival hustlers and con men, telling the story of a mentalist (Cooper) who teams with a psychologist in order to swindle the rich. Dafoe will play a head barker at a traveling carnival. Del Toro is directing the thriller and wrote the script with Kim Morgan. The filmmaker is aiming for an early 2020 shoot in Toronto.

Here comes our fantastic confirmation according to The Hollywood Reporter: Just days after the successful premiere of her thriller Knives Out at the Toronto International Film Festival, Toni Collette has closed a deal to join Guillermo del Toro’s all-star ensemble noir thriller, Nightmare Alley. Bradley Cooper is headlining the Fox Searchlight production, an adaptation of the 1946 noir novel by William Lindsay that first hit the screen as a 1947 film noir starring Tyrone Power. The story is set in a world of carnival hustlers and con men, telling the story of a mentalist (Cooper) who teams with a psychologist in order to swindle the rich. Things go south for the poor sap when he is out-hustled by the woman. Collette will play a mentalist named Zeena who mentors the protagonist. Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett are already on board and the project has actors such as Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon circling as well. “Guillermo is a true auteur,” said the actress in a statement. “I look forward to collaborating with him and the amazing cast he has already assembled. What an honour.” Del Toro is directing the thriller and wrote the script with Kim Morgan. An early 2020 shoot in Toronto is being readied. Collette is having a banner week. Knives Out, Rian Johnson’s all-star whodunit in which the actress plays a key role, premiered to rave reviews at TIFF, with the movie on track to open Nov. 27. Friday sees the debut of Unbelievable, the searing Netflix crime drama that also stars Merritt Weaver. Also Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Collette’s breakout feature, Muriel’s Wedding, with a screening as part of the Academy’s Robert Osborne Celebration of Classic Film series. The actress is repped by CAA, Finley Management, United Management, and Jackoway Tyerman.

This doesn’t sound too official, but amazing and hopefully true. According to Collider, Guillermo del Toro‘s new adaptation of Nightmare Alley, which is set to star Bradley Cooper, is one of the hottest projects in Hollywood right now. The film will be del Toro’s follow-up to The Shape of Water, which won Best Picture, and it will be Cooper’s first starring role since his Oscar-nominated turn in A Star is Born. So it should come as no surprise that del Toro is lining up a top-notch cast for his next feature. Here are the names we are currently hearing from sources, and do keep in mind that none of these deals are closed as of now, so it’s entirely possible that one or two of these names could change in the future. Sources tell Collider that Toni Collette is poised to play the female lead opposite Cooper, and that she’ll likely be joined by del Toro’s Shape of Water star Richard Jenkins, as well as his very own Hellboy hero, Ron Perlman. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe is also in line to co-star, as is Mark Povinelli from Water for Elephants. Elsewhere, two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are also being eyed for key supporting roles, though as you might imagine, their deals may be a little harder to make than those listed above. And finally, Michael Shannon, who co-starred in The Shape of Water, is also being eyed for a small role, though scheduling may pose a problem in his case. Nightmare Alley is based on the William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name that follows roustabout Stanton ‘Stan’ Carlisle, who joins a traveling carnival and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena and her alcoholic husband, Pete. But when Pete dies, Zeena is forced to take on Stan as a partner, and he quickly proves more gifted than his predecessor. Ambitious to a fault, it’s not long before Stan goes out on his own — to mixed results. Collette would play Zeena Krumbein, who works in a traveling carnival where she bills herself as a psychic known as Mademoiselle Zeena. Dafoe is likely playing the role of Pete, though it’s unclear whether that character will be changed from Zeena’s husband to her father in this new film, or whether del Toro will keep their relationship as is. Del Toro co-wrote the script with Kim Morgan, and he’s also producing the Fox Searchlight film along with J. Miles Dale. Production is expected to start this fall.