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.

We’ve got two bits of casting news to update you on today.  Here they are at a glance:

• Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) has signed on to topline Haunter, a supernatural mystery that features Breslin as teenage ghost, Lisa, who attempts to prevent a girl living in her former home from falling victim to the same mysterious death.
• Tom Lipinski (Suits) will join Jason Reitman’s Labor Day, in which an escaped con (Josh Brolin) hides out with a single mom (Kate Winslet) and her teenage son over Labor Day weekend.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.