It looks like me placing The Squid and The Whale at the top of my Best of 2005 list really worked out for writer/director Noah Baumbach – he’s got a new dramedy in the works at Paramount Classics and it will star Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Leigh is Baumbach’s newlywed wife, by the way, so getting her onboard probably wasn’t that tough.
The two women will play sisters in the yet-untitled film, which will be a “multigenerational story.” It’ll take place over the course of a weekend, and will be about a woman who takes her son to visit her sister. If it’s shooting in Brooklyn I am so sneaking on set daily. A scene in Squid was shot in a bodega across the street from my favorite bar here in the neighborhood, and had I known how good that movie was going to turn out, I would have been totally lurking.
It should be noted that no actual deals are signed yet, so all of this could disappear at a moment’s notice. Let’s hope not – Baumbach has come back from a couple of years in the wilderness and re-established himself as a strong and important voice; I hope this film keeps that up.
The Squid and the Whale, by the way, is coming to DVD in March. Pre-order your copy now through CHUD by clicking here!