Niki Caro Melts for Groundswell Prods’ Buttercup

We’d have a problem type-casting Niki Caro as a genre, or subject specific director. She commenced her career with the delightful, child’s fantasy with a moral at the end of the story locally set New Zealand pic (Whale Rider), followed with the women’s rights in the workplace (North Country) and will preem a period piece at the Toronto Film Festival next month with the long awaited The Vintner’s Luck. Now according to THR, Caro’s new directing gig is a mid-life crisis, contempo dramedy from the POV of a male character called Buttercup.

Part of the 2007 Blacklist of Best Unproduced Screenplays, it surfaced at the bottom tier of the list – which means absolutely nothing about the scripts’ quality, this is written by first time scribe Alice O’Neil and will be produced by Michael London’s Groundswell Prods. who have the upcoming The Informant! and All Good Things as their next projects slated for release. Brian Koppelman and David Levien will also be producing.

This centers on a middle-age, grossly irresponsible man who has made a mess of his life but after the death of his wife — and with the help of his slightly neurotic adult daughter — attempts to get that life back in order. Koppelman told THR that “despite the dramatic subject matter, the project contains elements of comedy that humanize the protagonists.”

Who would you cast in the lead roles?