While “The Death and Life Of John P. Donovan” still needs the finishing touches put on it, writer/director Xavier Dolan has already booked his next gig. However, instead of going behind the camera, he’ll be in front. The filmmaker has long stated he wants to do more acting (his last, non-voiceover role was in 2014’s underwhelming “Elephant Song“) and he’s doing it with one helluva high profile project — his first big Hollywood role — with an eclectic ensemble.
Dolan, along with Cherry Jones, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, YouTube personality Troye Sivan, Emily Hinkler, Jesse LaTourette, David Joseph Craig, Théodore Pellerin, and Britton Sear have joined Joel Edgerton‘s next directorial effort, “Boy Erased.” Starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe, and based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, the film will tell the story of Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.
The material certainly sounds both promising and powerful. Production on the Focus Features movie will begin this fall, and a 2018 release date for “Boy Erased” is already being eyed, no doubt with the awards season in mind.