It looks like the people who brought us the indie-smash hit Little Miss Sunshine are looking to recreate some of that same magic with their next film and they plan on doing so by rounding up ‘Sunshine’ alums anywhere they can find them. According to 24 frames, the directors, producers, distributors and as of right now, one cast member of the 2006 Oscar nominated flic are on board for the upcoming dramedy He Loves Me. Husband and wife directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are teaming up with real-life acting couple Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan for the film scripted by Kazan. The actor/screenwriter has several projects in the mix. We joked about it with her a little while back when we sat down and talk with Kazan about her pioneer drama Meek’s Cutoff. Dano will play the young novelist with writers’ block and Kazan will play one of his characters who comes to life. The film is being produced by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa and it was recently announced that Fox Searchlight will be handling the distribution. The ball is rolling pretty quickly on this one. Word is the supporting cast will be named any day now and filming is set to begin as early as July to get this ready for a 2012 release.
Gist: The film centers on a young novelist whose once promising career is struggling. In a bid to overcome his writer’s block, he is told to write about a woman he thinks will love him and somehow winds up willing her into existence.
Worth Noting: Having worked almost exclusively directing music videos and documentaries, Little Miss Sunshine was a feature film directorial debut for Dayton and Farris. The charming indie didn’t only put Abigail Breslin in a small fat-suit and on the map, the little movie that could managed to clean up at the box office bringing in $60 million and won Oscars in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay categories.
Do We Care?: Lightning rarely strikes twice. The film may have a strong team behind it and the story sounds really charming, but chances are it won’t appeal to as broad an audience as 'Sunshine' did. And as for couples working together, some can nail it (John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands) and some should have probably never gotten together in the first place (Madonna and Guy Ritchie). What it comes down to is talent, professionalism and how well you communicate. This has the potential to be a really charming film with what will no doubt have some interesting characters. Our prediction is that it will become a buzzworthy film that will steal hearts on the festival circuit, but if its box office numbers their looking for, they might have to keep on looking.
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