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.

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Here’s the press release with the synopsis in bold:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 13, 2012) – Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., and Indian Paintbrush announced today that principal photography has begun on “LABOR DAY,” from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman, with Academy Award®-winner Kate Winslet and Academy Award®-nominated Josh Brolin starring. The film is shooting in Massachusetts.

Based on Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name, the film is written and directed by Reitman (“YOUNG ADULT,” “UP IN THE AIR”) who will produce with his partner Helen Estabrook through their Right of Way Films banner, along with the Academy Award®-nominated team of Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith (“YOUNG ADULT,” “JUNO”) of Mr. Mudd.  Steven Rales (“YOUNG ADULT,” “LIKE CRAZY”) and Mark Roybal (“EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE,” “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN”) of Indian Paintbrush will serve as executive producers.

“LABOR DAY” centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence.  On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict.  The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.

Winslet (“REVOLUTIONARY ROAD,” “THE READER”) stars as Adele Wheeler, the reclusive mother and Josh Brolin (“TRUE GRIT,” “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN”) is Frank Chambers. Gattlin Griffith (“GREEN LANTERN,” “CHANGELING”) plays Adele’s son Henry.  Rounding out the cast is Tom Lipinski (“SUITS”) as the young Frank; Clark Gregg (“MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS”) as Henry’s father Gerald; Alexie Gilmore (“DEFINITELY, MAYBE”) plays Marjorie, Gerald’s new wife and Henry’s stepmom; Lucas Hedges (“MOONRISE KINGDOM”) plays her son Richard; Brighid Fleming (“GAMER”) as Henry’s friend Eleanor; James Van Der Beek (“DON’T TRUST THE B---- IN APARTMENT 23”) as Officer Treadwell; Maika Monroe as young Frank’s sweetheart Mandy; Brooke Smith (“GREY’S ANATOMY,”) as Adele’s friend Evelyn and Micah Fowler as Evelyn’s son Barry.