The Oscar-nominated Up In The Air and The Departed star Vera Farmiga is debuting her Sundance drama Higher Ground (which was one of my favorites at the fest) in limited release this month, but she has just lined up another film to star in. Deadline reports she will join Mark Strong in the period drama Closer to the Moon.
It will mark writer/director Nae Caranfil‘s first film since 2007’s The Rest is Silence. In the film set in communist Romania, Strong will play Max Rosenthal, who previously was in charge of “a criminal investigation unit for the Bucharest police force after he and four prominent Jews pulled off a bank robbery while assuring the crowds they were filming a movie.” Doesn’t it sound eerily similar to Ben Affleck‘s Argo?
The group is “sentenced to death because they are Jews, but only after the communist government forces them to re-enact their crime in a propaganda film.” Farmiga joins the film as a previous lover of Strong and “mother of his child, who returns from studying in Moscow as the drama unfolds.” I think this is a great pairing and Strong has a promising next year as he appears in Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and John Carter, while Farmiga will next be seen in Safe House with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.
We also have a quick update on Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini‘s indie comedy Imogene. With a cast including Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Darren Criss, Natasha Lyonne and June Diane Raphae, Deadline reports that Matt Dillon has joined the film. He will play “the eccentric love interest of Bening’s character. He claims to be in the CIA, but his behavior suggests he just might be crazy.” Check out synopsis Michelle Morgan‘s comedy below.
Wiig plays a playwright who stages a fake suicide attempt in reaction to the triple-whammy of losing her job, getting evicted and getting dumped by her boyfriend. She hopes to gain sympathy from her ex, but instead is consigned to return to the home of her gambling addict mother (Bening).
Closer to the Moon will shoot this fall in Bucharest and Imogene begins rolling camera this week in New York. Expect 2012 releases for both.