Hardy And The Director Depart "The Outsider"

Twitchfilm reports that Tom Hardy has dropped out of the action thriller "The Outsider".

The script by Andrew Baldwin follows a POW in Osaka during World War II who stays on after the war. He works his way through the rituals and hardships to become the rare outsider who gains membership in the Yakuza crime unit.

Baldwin wrote the script based upon an idea by John Linson from which Takashi Miike was due to call action. Pre-production was well underway and is now on hold. Thanks to Miike's crowded slate, Hardy's departure means Miike has to leave the film so the search for both a new director and lead actor has begun .

John Linson, Art Linson, Christopher Woodrow, Molly Conners, Bill Block are producing.

The project was previously setup by Joel Silver.