While we pointed out yesterday that Megan Ellison's ventures with auteurs and non-blockbuster films have yet to produce a breakout hit, we're certainly glad that she isn't throwing in the towel. The producer and her Annapurna Pictures are behind "Capote" and "Moneyball" director Bennett Miller's upcoming "Foxcatcher," and it's being poised for awards season attention.
Columbia Pictures has come on board to distribute the film starring Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller, and are slating it for a fall 2013 release. Penned by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman ("Capote"), the (based on a true) story centers on John du Pont (Carell), a stamp-collecting, bird-watching multimillionaire and paranoid schizophrenic who built a wrestling training facility, Team Foxcatcher, on his 800-acre Pennsylvania estate. In 1996, he shockingly murdered Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz (Ruffalo), a longtime friend, who du Pont believed (as was discovered during the trial) was part of an international conspiracy to kill him. Miller and Tatum will play Schultz's wife and brother, respectively.
Lensing is currently underway in Pittsburgh and the combination of atypical roles for Carell and Tatum and this bizarre-yet-true story make it one we'll be watching very, very closely. TIFF and Venice, start working those phones.
In other release date updates: Vince Vaughn's remake of the Quebecois hit "Starbuck" is now called "The Delivery Man" and will hit theaters on October 4, 2013. The story centers on a middle-aged man (Vaughn) whose life changes when he finds out that he has fathered 533 children through sperm donation, and that a few hundred of those children have expressed the wish to meet their biological father. Chris Pratt and Cobie Smulders round out the cast.
Lastly, the Ice Cube-led comedy "Ride Along" is now slated for a January 17, 2014 (Martin Luther King Jr. weekend) release date. Co-starring Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo and recently adding 'SNL' star Jay Pharoah, the story follows a grade school teacher (Hart) who has his sight on marrying his girlfriend, but first must pass a rigorous set of trials from her policeman brother (Cube) who harbors some strong feelings on the couple's union. Tim Story ("Barbershop") directs.