I’ve always wondered what kind career stock plunge occurs when a filmmaker has his latest film released with the “not screened for critics” tag. Apparently director-writer Rodrigo Garcia’s just released this weekend survivor drama-thriller Passengers has done little damage as he has just signed up for a project that will have an indie-sized budget but attract A-list talent.
Variety reports that Annette Bening and Naomi Watts have signed up for leading roles and Kerry Washington and Shareeka Epps have joined Mother and Child in supporting roles – in a former Cha Cha Cha deal project that plays on the helmer’s strengths of: mergiong ensemble sets of characters in a multi-narrative scenario as he did with Nine Lives.
Pegged to begin filming in Los Angeles next year, the script follows a woman who gave up her daughter 35 years ago and an African-American woman who is looking to adopt. The pic is now being produced by Julie Lynn’s Mockingbird Films and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu takes on the role of exec producer.
