Before Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi won an Oscar for The Salesman, the second in his career, he had been planning on an entirely different movie that would have starred Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. We didn't hear much about it because he had put it on the shelf to finish working on the script, and instead put his full energy behind The Salesman, which turned out to be the right idea. Now Farhadi is picking up where he left off, and finally some plot details are being released for what could be his next Oscar nominee.
The untitled Spanish-language film is being described by Screen Daily as a “family drama and psychological thriller which will explore how the kidnapping of a young girl leads to the unraveling of family secrets.” Cruz's character will be from Buenos Aires, with Wild Tales star Ricardo Darin joining the cast as her husband. No further information on Bardem's role, but he is definitely still involved unlike Pedro Almodover who was going to produce.
Speaking of producers, Alexandre Mallet-Guy calls it Farhadi's "most commercial film to date", and I for one am eager to see how he's embraced by a wider audience. Shooting begins in Madrid this summer, but first Farhadi will be delivering the opening speech at the 70th Cannes Film Festival today.
