The story of J.C. Chandor in 2011 can be described in two words: slow burn. He hit Sundance in January to unspool his financial crisis drama "Margin Call" where it received very good, but not quite ecstatic reviews. But something curious happened. This fall, that very good word out of Park City started to turn into serious awards season buzz, and while the major awards have eluded him, Chandor and his film earned a handful of nods from various guilds, with "Margin Call" striking a chord in more than one critic. Well, he's caught the eye of the Sundance Kid himself and together they're going to embark on an adventure.
Deadline reports that the suddenly very busy Redford will star in "All Is Lost," a man vs. nature tale that we presume doesn't involve strapping broken glass bottles to your hand and kicking the living snot out of wolves. While plot details are thin at the moment, the story is set to take place on the water, with Baja Film Studios in Mexico being eyed to house the production. That's where James Cameron shot "Titanic" and Michael Bay filmed "Pearl Harbor," so can we presume the budget will be a bit higher than the scrappy, largely one location "Margin Call"?
The interesting twist here is that the movie is said to be mostly a one character show, with the site drawing a comparison to "Jeremiah Johnson" (mostly because it also starred Redford as the central focus of an entire movie). This one seems to be moving fast with a start date being eyed for May, and Chandor apparently wrote the movie around Redford, so we're definitely curious.
"All Is Lost" certainly isn't the movie we expected either Chandor or Redford to do next, so it's actually pretty exciting. But either way, before this one can roll, Redford will have to wrap up his latest directorial effort "The Company You Keep" so we'll see if his participation holds or if that start date stays steady.
