Miller, Paramount Vantage bring

Capote director Bennett Miller and Paramount Vantage are joining forces to bring The Immortalist to life. The project, which will be scripted by The Delicate Art of the Rifle scripe Dante Harper, is described as a “contemporary, character-driven drama set in the world of life-extension,” as the title suggests. Plan B will produce, with Vantage higher-ups Amy Israel and Matt Brodlie overseeing the project.

Miller, who’s only previous credit to Capote is a 1998 documentary called The Cruise about a guy who drives tour buses in NYC, could be the luckiest man alive. His fiction directorial debut, Capote, got him nominated for an Academy Award for directing, and Capote was nominated for another four awards, including Best Picture (even though I’ve never met a single person who really loves that film). This summer, Miller occupied his time by shooting a music video in Coney Island for some unknown singer/songwriter named Bob Dylan and starred some up-and-coming actress named Scarlett Johansson.

Credit is due to Paramount Vantage, who have become a major player in the ‘quality cinema’ department. After not producing a single great film since Robert Evans was “The Guy,” PV seems to be collecting great filmmakers. First up, Babel. They’re producing the next Noah Baumbach project, as well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s much-anticipated There Will Be Blood. And you were worried when they canned Tom Cruise. Look how wisely that freed-up money is been spent.