We’ve been desperately hopeful that acclaimed screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman would finally get to make his long-gestating feature film project “Later The War” after multiple delays and hiccups, but things are inching closer to getting made with actors Channing Tatum (“The Roofman”) and Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”) in lead roles as filming is gearing up for next year.
That fantastic update on “Later The War” comes from Deadline, which adds that “Mickey 17” actress Patsy Ferran is still attached to the cast. Also, Tatum steps into the project, taking over a role previously meant for Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Day of the Jackal”).
Vincent Maraval and Kim Fox’s The Veterans has boarded the project’s sales for the Kaufman comedic drama. The Veterans is overseeing international sales, while CAA Media Finance is handling the domestic rights for the project. “Later The War” has a producing team that features Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum of Waypoint Entertainment (“Project Hail Mary,” “I Love Boosters,” “The Favourite”) alongside Sarah Green (“The Bikeriders,” “Mud”).
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It’s been known for ages that “Later The War” is going to be a loose adaptation of “Debby’s Dream House” written by author Iddo Gefen, and was part of the short story collection “Jerusalem Beach.” Gefen’s original story “follows a man who manufactures dreams and nightmares for others, including for his own wife,” which certainly sounds a lot like it could be similar to other Kaufman projects from the past.
A logline as revealed by the outlet: “Tatum plays Peekman, a wildly popular actor-director, famous for blockbuster physical comedies in which he stars with his wife Kiki (played by Thompson). The more successful he becomes, the more he begins to suspect that deep down, he has nothing to say. In a bid for the artistic legitimacy that he craves, and as his marriage flounders, he attempts a serious Holocaust film, while Kiki moves on to create her own one-woman show. When Peekman encounters Debora (Ferran), a poet who has no idea who he is, he finds himself desperate to win her approval. This does not go well. The film weaves present-day reality, films nested within films, and mind-bending dreamscapes to create a world in which Peekman and Kiki, having lost themselves to the pursuit of fame, may find their way back to reality.”
Kaufman hasn’t directed a feature-length project since the 2020 Netflix original “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” starring Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons. So, with that in mind, you can certainly tell the filmmaker has been biding his time to get the passion project in front of the cameras and has now secured the backers needed for that to happen, with production set to take place in Cyrus sometime in 2027.
In the fall, Kaufman shot down rumors that he would be pivoting from “Later The War” to another film project. And there is now clear confirmation here that was bunk information.
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