Director Jason Reitman has commenced production on his next feature, the drama Labor Day.  The film is based on the Joyce Maynard novel of the same name and centers on a 13-year-old boy who convinces his reclusive mother to take in a drifter over Labor Day weekend.  It’s later revealed that the man is an escaped convict and the three spend a weekend together that will “shape them for the rest of their lives.”  Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star as the two leads, and Reitman felt so strongly about his cast that he pushed the production schedule back a year until both Winslet and Brolin were free.

Reitman wrote the screenplay himself and is directing Labor Day as his follow-up to last year’s Young Adult.  As a big fan of Reitman’s past work (Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air), I’m eager to see him tackle this weighty dramatic material. Clark Gregg and James Van Der Beek also star in the film.  Hit the jump to read the full press release, which includes the updated synopsis.

Some end-of-the-week casting notes for your enjoyment.  Here they are in brief:

• Kristopher Higgins (In Time) is in talks to join The Sweet Hereafter-director Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, a drama about the West Memphis Three.
• Brooke Smith (The Silence of the Lambs), Alexie Gilmore (Surfer, Dude) and Lucas Hedges (Moonrise Kingdom) are set to join Up in the Air-director Jason Reitman’s Labor Day adaptation.
• Sonya Walger (Lost) has been added to the cast of the academic comedy, Admission, starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

When you go to a film festival, you never know what’s going to stand out. Often the film you expect to love isn’t anything special, and a film that’s completely off everyone’s radar is the one you’re raving about. And that’s exactly what happened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival when I saw writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait’s “World’s Greatest Dad”. To say the film is great is a disservice, as it’s so awesome that just saying great isn’t good enough. I absolutely cannot recommend this film enough as it had me laughing from beginning to end with an amazing script and fantastic performances.

So to help promote the limited theatrical release of “World’s Greatest Dad”, the other day I got to speak with Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait and the interview is after the jump. They tell some great stories about making the film. Also, for those not familiar with the movie, after the jump are links to the red band trailer and some movie clips.