As if Charlie Kaufman doing, well, anything isn't cause enough for celebration, his latest film already sounds like it may be his wildest, most ambitious yet. This coming from the guy who gave us Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Being John Malkovich, that's really saying something. His next film, the musical satire Frank or Francis, already has Nicolas Cage, Jack Black, Steve Carell, and Kevin Kline set to star, and yet the cast has just found a way to get even better.
Elizabeth Banks, Paul Reubens, and Kaufman fave Catherine Keener are the latest to join the film, which is basically a thorough bashing of the online film blogging community. The story revolves around three characters: Frank(Carell), a pretentious filmmaker with a hit film everyone loves; Francis(Black), a popular film blogger who lives in his parents' house; and Alan(Cage) a once popular comedian whose career is on the decline. Kevin Kline has the coolest sounding parts by far, playing the dual role of Richard Waller, the brother of a filmmaker who directed a hit film called 'Hiroshima'. And then he'll play Richard's Head, a supercomputer designed to churn out award winning screenplays.
Banks and Keener will likely be taking on the two female leads, which Kaufman has said previously will involve some amount of singing. Banks is playing a well respected actress who has made a serious of formulaic comedies, and enters into an affair with Frank. Keener's role hasn't been defined just yet. Reubens, better known as Pee-Wee Herman, will play an old school film critic.
Kate Winslet was also mentioned as being part of the cast, but it's been confirmed she won't be a part of it, which is a damn shame. I'd love to see her taking on something this fun again, and of course the last time she worked with Kaufman it turned out to be pretty successful.
When this will start production is anybody's guess, but I hope it's soon. [THR/Vulture]
