After more than a decade being MIA at the multiplex, bona fide legend Warren Beatty is coming back with a new film. Though recent reports suggested he might’ve abandoned playing Howard Hughes, not to worry, as Beatty will indeed play the famed billionaire recluse in a movie that’s not quite about Hughes at all.
But let’s get some details out of the way first: Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins (replacing the long-attached Felicity Jones) will star in the flick, with Deadline adding that Annette Bening and Matthew Broderick are also expected to appear in the movie, with longtime Beatty pal Jack Nicholson also a (fingers crossed) possibility. As for the story, it will actually center on Hughes’ assistant (Ehrenreich) who falls and his romance with a young woman (Collins). However, previous plot details for the film suggested the woman would eventually fall for Hughes himself, though it’s unclear if that’s still the case. (Fun trivia: Andrew Garfield, Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood and Rooney Mara were considered for the lead roles at one point.)
From a business end, New Regency and Brett Ratner (yep, that Brett Ratner) are producing the film, and while they’ll have U.S. rights, the director himself is hanging onto the foreign rights. Hmm. It’s also interesting to note that some of the film has actually already been shot, though full-blown production kicks off today.
As for when we’ll see it? Well, even if the budget is modest at $26.7 million, Beatty took his sweet time pulling it all together and something tells us he won’t be rushed in the editing room either. But hey, cameras are rolling, which is frankly fantastic, and we can’t wait to see how a Beatty drama plays, particularly in today’s cinematic climate.
