Although audiences won’t see the directorial debut of Jason Bateman, Bad Words (TIFF review), until early next year, he’s already lined up his sophomore effort. According to Deadline, he’s set to adapt Kevin Wilson‘s novel The Family Fang, also starring alongside Nicole Kidman. Scripted David Lindsay-Abaire, who gave Kidman one of her finest performances in Rabbit Hole, the film follows a pair of eccentric artistic parents who involve their now-grown kids in one latest performance piece. Production begins next year, while Bateman’s debut lands on March 21st, 2014.
After crafting one of the most divisive films of last year with the dark Tim Heidecker-led character study The Comedy, director Rick Alverson is grabbing another actor from the same pool to star in his follow-up. In an interview with Richmond Magazine (via The Playlist), Alverson has revealed Heidecker’s OnCinema co-host Gregg Turkington will star in Entertainment, a feature set in the Mojave Desert in which our star travels the area as a comedian with a goal to make it to Los Angeles, where his estranged daughter resides. Set to kick off production in January, Alverson says he won’t be adjusting his tone, hoping for a “brutally depressing” movie.
In other directing news, Borat and Bruno director Larry Charles has found his next feature and it’ll be far removed from any Sacha Baron Cohen-related hijinks. According to Deadline, the director is on board for A Walk in the Woods, which teams Robert Redford with Nick Nolte. Once set to be directed by Richard Linklater and then Redford himself, Charles will now helm the film, scripted by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), that follows two childhood friends who reunite for an outdoor trip, as they attempt to conquer the Appalachian Trail.
Lastly, following the success of Jackass: Bad Grandpa, director Jeff Tremaine will head into very different territory for his follow-up. According to Deadline, he’ll direct a biopic on the early days of Motley Crue. Based on the band’s own biography The Dirt: Confessions Of The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, it will follow their wild coming-of-age story in the 1980’s as the went from a local Hollywood band to one of the biggest in the world. Production will begin early next year.
Which of the upcoming projects are you most looking forward to?