Is Joe Swanberg the American version of Takashi Miike? It certainly seems like it. Swanberg is no less prolific than the famed Japanese filmmaker, completing about a dozen movies over the last three years. What started out as the template for the indie "mumblecore" movement has since broadened out to include high-profile stars, such as with two of his most recent films, Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas. And now Swanberg has brought back the casts of those movies for his next film, the already-wrapped Digging for Fire.
Drinking Buddies stars Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick are part of a phenomenal cast that includes Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Brie Larson, Orlando Bloom, and comedian Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk with Me) for the film Swanberg co-wrote with Johnson. Plot details are being kept hidden but DeWitt and Johnson are said to be the leads with the rest having supporting roles of varying size. Ben Richardson, who gave Beasts of the Southern Wild its unique visual look, shot the film on 35mm.
No word on when this will open, but I'd be shocked if it doesn't hit a few upcoming film festivals. Swanberg's latest, Happy Christmas, arrives in July and you can check out my review of it here. [TheWrap]
