Before Crazy, Stupid, Love, Dan Fogelman was know for writing Disney animated fare like Bolt, Tangled and even Cars 2 for Pixar. It would appear as if the writer’s gravitating more towards the Love crowd however, as he’ll be making his directorial debut with upcoming drama Imagine with, as Deadline reports, Al Pacino starring alongside Jeremy Renner and Julianne Moore:
Pacino will play an aging 1970s rock star who is still packing arenas and living a decadent life with a girlfriend way too young for him. On his 64th birthday, he discovers an undelivered letter written to his 19-year-old self from his hero John Lennon. He decides to straighten out, stop making a living off by “selling out” and playing old anthems, and rediscover the music he originally set out to make.
It’s been something of a long journey for Imagine, which Fogelman had always wished to direct from his own script. The project was originally at Warner Brothers with Steve Carell in the Pacino role. When that fell through the producers went the independent route, as the film will now be funded by a guy named Manoj Bhargava, the founder of… wait for it… 5 Hour Energy drinks.
I wasn’t a fan of Love, but Fogelman’s a talented voice excited about this, his passion project. It’s rare that Pacino gets out of bed for an indie film these days, so maybe there’s something here. Look for this to be an easy sell on the festival circuit in the next year or so.