Casting news out of the trades has become a sketchy deal lately as everything seems to jump the gun with “in talks,” “circling” or “in negotiations” attached to every casting and directorial announcement. The most interesting one today can’t even get Variety or The Hollywood Reporter to agree on who is doing what as Jodie Foster has apparently signed on to direct and co-star with Mel Gibson in The Beaver with Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Keith Redmon producing. Variety‘s report says it’s a done deal while THR says Foster is “in negotiations” and Gibson is “in talks”. Who has it right? Who cares? We’ll act as if it’s a done deal for now…
The script was written by Kyle Killen and apparently topped the 2008 Black List (the most popular unproduced screenplays) and will center on a grown man (Gibson) who wears a beaver puppet on his hand that he treats as a real person. Foster will play his wife.
Steven Zeitchik’s report at The Hollywood Reporter says those familiar with the script have compared it to Lars and the Real Girl and the work of Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).
The film marks a reunion for Gibson and Foster who starred together in Maverick in 1994 (a film I personally love).
Gibson will next be seen in Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness due out in January 2010, while this will mark Foster’s first film since Nim’s Island in 2008.
