Six long years after filming wrapped on Kenneth Longergan’s “Margaret,” his long awaited follow up his 2000 acclaimed directorial debut “You Can Count On Me,” will finally hit theaters in 2011 via Fox Searchlight.
The film has been sitting in limbo for the past few years for a variety of reasons. Foremost, a legal battle erupted between Fox Searchlight and the film’s producer Dan Gilbert, with suits and countersuits filed, as Lonergan simply could not find the picture in the editing bay. Lonergan apparently requested further time in the editing room, while multiple editors apparently also took control of the film with and without Lonergan’s ok. Even late producer Sydney Pollack become infuriated with Lonergan’s “unprofessional and irrational behavior” and we pretty much had figured the movie would end up as historical curiosity rather than an actual finished film. According to Olivia Thirlby, 300 pages of script were shot so no wonder he had trouble wrangling this thing into a manageable size.
Well, Fox Searchlight has confirmed with Anne Thompson that “we do have a finished cut by Lonergan and we plan to release the film sometime in 2011.” We guess everything got ironed out and Lonergan finally got a cut in the can. Also, way back in 2009, Fox Searchlight hired Nico Muhly to soundtrack the film but it’s unknown if his work will still be in the film.
This one should definitely be interesting. The film stars Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Olivia Thirlby with pretty much all of them having made huge strides in their careers over the past six years (sorry Matthew Broderick). The film, which is said to have echoes of 9/11 survivor’s guilt, follows the ramifications of a tragic bus accident as seen through the eyes of a high school student desperate to parse the tragedy for a deeper spiritual meaning.
At this point we don’t know what to think of the constant delays and struggles to bring “Margaret” to the big screen, but we’re glad it’s finally happening and that we’ll get to see it.
