David Gordon Green has already gone through several phases in his relatively short career — indie breakout, second coming of Terrence Malick, studio stoner comedy helmer, reviver of once-great actors. Is ‘awards director’ his next transformation? The director has “Our Brand Is Crisis,” starring Sandra Bullock and Anthony Mackie, on the way, a film tipped as the next “Argo,” and now the chameleonic helmer has signed on to a true-life tale that could be Oscar material.
Per THR, Gordon Green will direct Lionsgate’s “Stronger,” based on the memoir of Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the Boston Marathon Bombing and became a key witness in the subsequent criminal case. Playwright John Pollono and “8 Mile” and “The Fighter” screenwriter Scott Silver wrote the script, which is one of several films about the atrocity in the works: Daniel Espinosa was close to directing “Boston Strong” for Casey Affleck before he dropped out, while hometown boy Mark Wahlberg is meant to star in “Patriot’s Day” for CBS Films.
Right now, this has the advantage of being the only one of these movies to have a director, so this could end up being the first one in theaters. It sounds like inspirational stuff, and Gordon Green probably has the right sensibility to keep it from becoming generic. Incidentally, the director was on a couple of podcasts, recently, the Rotten Tomatoes one and the B-Movies Podcast, to discuss his latest film, the Al Pacino-starring “Manglehorn” — you can take a listen below.
READ MORE: David Gordon Green’s ‘Manglehorn’ Starring Al Pacino Gently Dazzles
In other director-related news, Judd Apatow says his collaboration with “Redeployment” author Phil Klay, on a dramedy about soldiers with PTSD, will likely be his next directorial project, shooting in fall 2016. [Vox].
“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke will return to the YA sphere for an adaptation of novel “Stargirl” [Variety], while Tarsem Singh, hot off the dreadful “Self/Less," will direct all ten episodes of NBC’s gritty "Wizard of Oz" reboot “Emerald City.” Yay?
