Former “The O.C.” heartthrob Adam Brody has come a long way from his days of covering for bad boy buddy Ryan Atwood in the privileged California community. Since his breakout turn in the Fox drama, he’s stolen the show in everything from big budget blockbusters like “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” to the Jason Reitman-directed “Thank You For Smoking,” and most recently has been carving out a niche for himself in independent drama and comedies like the forthcoming “The Oranges,” and Whit Stillman’s “Damsels in Distress,” and was recently cast in the long-gestating Linda Lovelace biopic “Lovelace.” It certainly seems like his days as Seth Cohen are far behind him.
Variety is reporting that Brody can now add another intriguing project to his increasingly busy slate of films as the lead in the Neil LaBute penned adaptation of his own play “Some Girls,” which is set to be helmed by Jennifer Getzinger. Getzinger seems to have mostly dabbled in fine television fare like “Mad Men” and “The Killing,” and “Some Girls” is set to be her first feature. The story follows a writer (presumably Brody), who prior to getting married arranges to meet up with five of his ex-girlfriends in different hotel rooms on a journey cross country. That certainly sounds like a journey of self discovery film, possibly along the lines of “Broken Flowers” meets “High Fidelity.”
Like Brody, Labute currently has a whole slate of projects lined up, which includes his reteaming with “In The Company of Men” and "Your Friends & Neighbors" star Aaron Eckhart for “The Geography of Hope,” as well as an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel “Crooked House,” penned by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of “Gosford Park” Julian Fellowes. However, while Getzinger remains an untested feature director, keep in mind that the once powerful and acclaimed LaBute is coming off a string of disappointing films with “Lakeview Terrace," the pointless remake of "Death At A Funeral" and especially his cringe-inducing remake of “The Wicker Man.” Perhaps it’s better he stays in the writer/producer capacity with “Some Girls,” while he takes his time to get “Crooked House” and “The Geography of Hope” up and running.
As for Brody, “Some Girls” may be a little ways off as he still has the “Lovelace” biopic in the works and is now also attached to a project called “Welcome to the Jungle.” This one like sounds more of a lighthearted comedy than “Some Girls,” as Brody joins a cast of Rob Huebel, Dennis Haysbert, Kristen Schaal and Jean-Claude Van Damme, in a “Lord of the Flies”-style workplace comedy. That one starts shooting in Puerto Rico next month.
While this writer personally waits for his role opposite Kristen Wiig and Oscar Issac in “Revenge for Jolly,” the prospect of a LaBute script, paired with a “Mad Men” director and Brody, seems promising.
