The SXSW Film Festival is about to be raging with tex-mex, sticky bbq fingers, hangovers and films in a quick minute. And on the eve of the first night, actor/writer/director Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a message for us. His upcoming directorial debut, a type of porn-addiction dramedy, formerly known as “Don Jon’s Addiction,” will simply be now known as “Don Jon.”
Starring Gordon-Levitt himself along with Scarlett Johansson, Tony Danza, Julianne Moore, Gleanne Headley, and Brie Larson, our review from Sundance called the film, “a charming, assured and impressive directorial debut.”
Gordon-Levitt has even released a message/press release to explain the title change, plus a first-look at Tony Danza in the movie (he plays the young actor’s father).
Hey everybody,So, as you might’ve heard already, I wrote and directed a movie last year, and it’s coming out later this year. Which is absolutely crazy, and I still kinda can’t believe it. Anyway, I’m posting this today to let you all know that I’m changing its title. It’s now called… DON JON. I decided to change it, first of all, because DON JON is just so short and simple, and if you know me, you know I’m a fan of brevity. Second of all, it felt to me like the old title, “Don Jon’s Addiction” was throwing some people off a bit from the point of the movie. People were assuming it was a film about porn addiction and sex addiction, which really isn’t true. That’d be sort of like saying “The Maltese Falcon” is a movie about a statue of a falcon. DON JON is a comedy about how men and women treat each other, and how the media we consume can create unrealistic expectations that we put on one another. That’s why the story centers around a relationship between a young man (played by me) who watches too much pornography and a young woman (played by Scarlett) who watches too many romantic Hollywood movies. It’s a topic I personally find fascinating and hilarious.And while I have your attention, I figured I’d show you the first production still we’re releasing of Jon’s father, played by none other than Tough Tony Danza. More to show soon. We’re just starting to work on the trailer now. And I’m heading down to SxSW with Tony this weekend with the film, so I’ll see some of you in Austin!
“Don Jon” centers on the titular Jon Martello (JGL), a kind of New Jersey guido who objectifies women and is insanely addicted to pornography. Eventually he embarks on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women. Relativity Media will release the film some time in 2013. Last we heard, the actor/filmmaker would cut some of the graphic sex scenes in the movie to assure himself an R, not NC-17, rating. For more check out our interview with Gordon-Levitt, Tony Danza and Julianne Moore from Sundance. Update: Plus three new photos from Moviefone.
