Director Adam Shankman large-scale movie musical Rock of Ages hits theaters next month, but he’s already lining up an impressive cast for his next project. Deadline reports that Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, and Leslie Mann are in talks to star in Shankman’s adaptation of the Jonathan Tropper novel This Is Where I Leave You. The book tells the story of a dysfunctional family that is forced to reunite when their father requests they sit Shivah for seven days following his death. Harry Potter director David Yates was previously considering the Warner Bros. project as his post-Potter film, so this one’s a bit of a hot property for the studio. [Update: Malin Akerman and Jason Sudeikis are also in talks to join.] Hit the jump for more, including a synopsis of the book.
Efron’s career continues to take an interesting turn as he’s looking to do more challenging dramatic material, and he’d be reteaming with his 17 Again co-star Mann should he sign on to This Is Where I Leave You. Bateman is always reliable, and he seems a perfect fit as he’s adept at infusing dramatic material with an appropriate amount of levity (see: Juno).
Per Deadline, Hawn would play the family’s mother while Bateman, Efron and Mann would play siblings. Apparently the script, by Tropper, has been attracting considerable talent and other stars are expected to sign on to the ensemble. Production is hoping to get underway in September. [Update: THR also reports that Akerman and Sudeikis are in talks to join. Akerman would play Bateman's wife who is having an affair with his boss (Sudeikis), which goes public.]
Read the synopsis for the book below.
The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family-including Judd’s mother, brothers, and sister-have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.
Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.
As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant.
This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper’s most accomplished work to date, a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind-whether we like it or not. [Amazon]