Of his upcoming biopic, “Hillary,”
James Ponsoldt recently
told us it “has nothing to do with celebrity of the character…that story is
not a cradle-to-the-grave biopic, it’s sort of looking into a keyhole of a very
specific period of her life.” The “Spectacular
Now” director is currently selecting the right young Hillary Clinton to match those points, but in the meantime Ponsoldt
has emerged with another surprising biopic with a fixed-timeframe, and it
already has quite the intriguing cast assembled.
The Wrap reports
Ponsoldt has been attached to direct “The
End of the Tour,” an adaptation of Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky’s non-fiction account of
traveling with acclaimed writer David
Foster Wallace on the tail end of his Midwestern “Infinite Jest” book tour.
And to pique your interest more, actor Jason
Segel has been announced to play Wallace, while Jesse Eisenberg will tackle the role of Lipsky. Charting jealousy
and competition between the two, along with frantic travel dates and an
unpleasant reader’s escort, Lipsky’s book “Although
Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace”
definitely has the makings of a road trip film, which playwright Donald Margulies will adapt.
Most central in this news is the casting of Segel as Wallace,
who passed away in 2008. Aside from certain beats within “The Five Year Engagement” and “Freaks
and Geeks,” Segel can’t exactly be called the go-to man for dramatic
intensity, one seemingly required in taking on the role of Wallace. But we’re
optimistic—such a role could easily tip over into imitation or parody, and
luckily Ponsoldt has proven himself capable of cutting through artifice to the
performance underneath with “Smashed”
and “The Spectacular Now.” And the dynamic between Lipsky and Wallace in
Lipsky’s book is quite hilarious at times, which Eisenberg and Segel can pull
off effortlessly as we’ve seen.
Production is slated to begin in February or March, but what
do you think about Segel as Wallace, or Ponsoldt taking on the writer’s story?