Jonathan Levine is spending February lining up project after project. This summer, he’s reteaming with his “50/50” stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to shoot a Christmas comedy, he’s got a TV series based on the life of Nas called “Street Dreams” cooking, and he’s also in the mix to direct Marvel‘s “Doctor Strange.” (And don’t forget he’s also got “Bad Romance” with Channing Tatum in there as well). And yet another project has crossed Levine’s desk which he’ll be taking on.
Deadline reports that Levine will turn Katie Dellamaggiore‘s winning 2012 documentary “Brooklyn Castle” (our review) into a feature film. And it’s not hard to see the cinema in the story. The doc follows a handful of kids of I.S. 318 in Brooklyn, who are part of one of the best chess programs in the country, with the school delivering championship after championship. It’s the major silver lining for the students, teachers and parents, as the school is located in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods of the city. But budgetary cuts threaten the existence of the program altogether, one that gives a bright future to kids who don’t have many options.
“50/50” scribe Will Reiser is on board to write, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg producing, adding to their busy slate that also includes the recently announced “Console Wars” and a project with the “Workaholics” crew, Anders Holm, Adam DeVine and Blake Anderson.