Stiller to use Other Acting Skills for Baumbach’s Greenburg

I don’t recall there being an announcement that Noah Baumbach was supposed to work with Mark Ruffalo or Amy Adams, so the news of Ben Stiller taking over the lead only tells me that Ruffalo is going thru some tough moments right now (this gave one more reason for Summit to push The Brothers Bloom to a May slot). Stiller who is primarily known for his comedy skills tried on some dramatic material and wasn’t that bad – I still remember renting Permanent Midnight and seeing Your Friends & Neighbors in theaters and thinking he had acting chops for both comedy and drama. In comes a film that borrows from both genres, Baumbach’s Greenburg (a Scott Rudin product) is being kept under the lid but will probably have the same tonality as his dramedies in Margot at the Wedding and The Squid and the Whale.

THR reports that the film is being shopped to several specialty divisions, with Focus Features as one of the companies discussing a potential financing and distribution role.