Hoffman & Streep cast a shadow of a ‘Doubt’

Two already busy actors won't be taking much time off during the holidays – Variety reports that Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman are looking to sign on the dotted line for this Miramax project via producer Scott Rudin. 

Written by Shanley, Doubt is based on the Off Broadway's Manhattan Theater Club play. Set in 1964, “Doubt” centers on a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him abusing a black student. He denies the charges, and much of the play's quick-fire dialogue tackles themes of religion, morality and authority. The black student never appears in the play, which features just four characters. But Shanley, who has finished a draft of the screenplay, plans to cast thesps in that role as well as those of other students. A fair amount of location shooting is planned for Gotham, so the pic has the feel of a neighborhood and not simply a school, Shanley said. Play is set in the Bronx school Shanley attended.

Meryl Streep is busy with Rendition, Mamma Mia! and Lions for Lambs, while Philip Seymour Hoffman has Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Synecdoche, New York in the works. Production on Shanley's project starts in New York on Dec. 1.