Man, Noah Baumbach’s latest project has been dealt a severe blow. All due respect to the dead (RIP), but did the death of Mark Ruffalo’s brother inadvertently screw Baumbach’s upcoming relationship story, “Greenberg”?
The project was one of our most anticipated films of 2009 and originally starred Ruffalo and Amy Adams based on a script that Baumbach and his wife Jennifer Jason Leigh wrote (the trades wont tell you that part because they have yet to discover it). Now the Hollywood Reporter says that not only has Ruffalo dropped out of the project, but it appears that Amy Adams is now gone too. Nooo!
In place of Ruffalo, Baumbach has enlisted of all people, ugh, Ben Stiller. No one is in direct line for the female role as of yet, but THR says a few candidates are in talks (how about Rachel McAdams?). The original “Greenburg” cast looked like a perfect step up for Baumbach, as they both traversed the indie and mainstream worlds, but Stiller?
His ham-fisted one-note delivery will surely flatten all the nuances and intricacies of Baumbach’s sharp and wry writing – much like Jack Black almost did in “Margot At The Wedding” (an excellent movie that he almost ruined).
We’re gonna say it: this news totally depresses us. We were sooo looking forward to “Greenburg.” It will take a great actress with indie sensibilities to temper Stiller’s inclination to mug on camera for every friggin’ emotion, let’s just admit it: he’s almost always terrible (he threatened to ruin “The Royal Tenenbaums” too).
Sigh. Meanwhile, Baumbach is still evidently working on “The Emperor’s Children” for Ron Howard, but THR says its a 9/11 film? That certainly wasn’t in the original description. He also c0-wrote “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” with Wes Anderson which comes out fall 2009.
To be completely fair (and respectful to the dead), maybe if Adams dropped out of the project it meant that it just wasn’t ready to shoot as initially planned and the actors had to move on to other scheduled projects? Terrible thing that happened to Ruffalo’s brother; apparently the fatal gunshot wound he was self-inflicted. Our condolences go out to him and his family.