The saying goes that you gotta keep your eyes on the prize, and for director Bennett Miller that has certainly been true for "Foxcatcher." The long developing project was one he had hoped to tackle after "Capote," but he wound up helming last year's Best Picture nominee "Moneyball" instead. Not bad as far as consolation prizes go. But with the heat off that, he's been re-building the film. Last fall, Steve Carell and Channing Tatum both came on board, and now, an indie veteran is lining up for what is turning out to be a very promising cast.
Variety reports that Mark Ruffalo has joined the quirky true crime story. Penned by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman ("Capote" ) the story centers on John du Pont (Carell), a stamp-collecting, bird-watching multimillionaire and paranoid schizophrenic who built a wrestling training facility, Team Foxcatcher, on his 800-acre Pennsylvania estate. In 1996, he shockingly murdered Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz, a longtime friend, who du Pont believed (as was discovered during the trial) was part of an international conspiracy to kill him.
Though it was reported last fall that Tatum would be playing the co-lead as David Schultz, the wrestler who meets his untimely demise, the trade now says that Ruffalo will take that part instead. Tatum will play Mark Schultz, his younger brother. Ruffalo and Tatum as wrestling bros? Guess we'll see how that plays out.
The picture is now gearing up with an October shoot in the works, with production slated to take place in Pittsburgh. It's definitely a detour for both Carell and Tatum, while Ruffalo will probably have to physically bulk up and not just count on CGI like he did as Bruce Banner. It's a compelling story, and Miller's work on "Moneyball" last year was severely underrated so we have high hopes for this. See you on the Oscar circuit in the fall of 2013.
