It was in February we told you that Joel Edgerton and Jessica Chastain would be collaborating outside of their roles in Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” for the inter-connected double bill of “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, His” and “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Hers.” Now it looks as if one of those thespians may have had too much on their schedule at once (and surprisingly it wasn’t Chastain, although the actress did turn down "Iron Man 3" due to her commitment to this project).
Variety has word that James McAvoy will be taking over from Joel Edgerton in the role of a husband who’s a restaurateur, with Chastain playing the role of his wife who decides to go back to college, causing much discord in the relationship of the New York City-based couple. It’s an ambitious undertaking with each of the two separate films set to show the different perspectives of the husband and wife, with "In Defiance of Gravity" scribe Ned Benson on writing and directing duties for both.
We’re admittedly disappointed that Edgerton, who along with Chastain is fast becoming one of the most promising new talents, had to drop out of this intriguing project, but McAvoy is no slouch himself; he has a plum role upcoming in helmer Danny Boyle’s “Trance,” and he’s consistently proved himself to be an admirable talent before the camera. There's no exact word as to why Edgerton had to jump ship, but we’re surprised it wasn’t the uber-talented Chastain who did, as she seems to be attached to almost everything nowadays (for good reason).
The film is set to shoot in July, with the rights being pre-sold in Cannes this week, and considering the scope of the film(s), even Sundance will be a stretch, but it could conceivably make some kind of appearance come Cannes 2013. We’re eager to see how Benson melds these two iterations together into one singular vision.
