Last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay, Dustin Lance Black, is set to make his mainstream directorial debut helming his sophomore script “What’s Wrong With Virginia.”
According to Variety, the film will follow the story of a charming but psychologically disturbed mother who holds a secret 20 year affair with a sheriff now running for state senate. Their relationship is tested, however, when the mother’s 16 year old son begins a relationship with the sheriff’s daughter.
Jennifer Connelly and Liam Neeson have signed on to play the adult protagonists while Black’s “Milk” teammate Gus Van Sant is on board as the project’s executive producer. Black and Van Sant also currently have their adaptation of “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” in the works.
If anything, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of director Black is. Black’s early sexuality-fueled works have average-to-decent ratings on IMDB with one film earning the user comment: “The director’s attention to lighting and cinematography makes this film glow and resonate with the youthfulness of our main character.” Since then, he has become a writer-producer for HBO’s “Big Love” and worked under Van Sant.
“What’s Wrong With Virginia” is set to begin shooting in Michigan late summer.