Back in October, it was reported that Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) had entered talks to headline a mystery indie project from Academy Award nominee Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler). Now Variety has confirmed that said film will indeed be Aronofsky’s next project, and that Oscar winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall) is in talks to co-star with Lawrence.
This story is said to center on “a couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.” Whether this is meant to indicate a Funny Games-style home invasion story or a Carnage-like dramedy of manners is unknown, though we can expect more details to emerge as casting continues.
With a spring shoot locked in and a release set for 2017, the untitled film has found a home at Paramount Pictures, who distributed Aronofsky’s last movie Noah to a robust $362 million worldwide. However, production house New Regency–with whom Aronofsky has a first-look deal–passed on the project before Paramount picked it up. Could that indicate that New Regency seems to think the film lacks commercial potential, despite the star power of Lawrence?
Aronofsky is set to write, direct and produce through his own Protozoa Pictures along with Scott Franklin and Ari Handel.
Bardem landed his role after Idris Elba became unavailable due to a potential start date for playing Roland in Sony’s The Dark Tower, a role that Bardem had ironically once been attached to. Bardem will next be seen in Disney’s blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on July 7, 2017.
(Photo credit: WENN)
