While Sacha Gervasi has been trying for the longest time to get his “My Dinner With Hervé” — a biopic about “Fantasy Island” star Hervé Villechaize with Peter Dinklage and Dominic Cooper linked — off the ground, we can only imagine getting it financed in this climate would be tricky. And when we spoke to the “Anvil!” and “Hitchcock” director last year, he seemed uncertain about what would be next on his plate. Well, it looks like that question is now answered.
The Wrap reports that Gervasi is now slated to helm “November Criminals,” a project formerly attached to “The Kids Are All Right” helmer Lisa Cholodenko (but don’t worry about her, she’s currently lensing the HBO miniseries “Olive Kitteridge“). ” Penned by Steve Knight (“Eastern Promises,” “Dirty Pretty Things“), and based on the 2011 novel by Sam Munson, the story centers on a student who delves into the Washington, D.C. underbelly to solve the mystery behind the death of another student. Here’s the book synopsis from Amazon:
For a high school senior Addison Schacht has a lot of preoccupations, like selling drugs to his classmates, getting into college, and his complicated relationship with his best friend (NOT his girlfriend) Digger. And he’s just added another to the list: the murder of his classmate Kevin Broadus, and his own obsessive plan to investigate the death. When presented with an essay question on his application to the University of Chicago–What are your best and worst qualities?–Addison finds himself provoked into giving his final, unapologetic say about all of the above and more, and the thrilling result is an unforgettable trip through the Washington, D.C. teenage underworld.
Gervasi is rewriting the script, and already has lead lined up with, with Chloe Moretz adding yet another impressive film to her CV, taking the lead role. Filmmakers are already on the hunt for the male lead, with everyone aiming to get rolling in early 2014. It’s an interesting gear shift Gervasi who has solely dealt with true stories in his films until now, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of leaps he’ll take now that he has a bit more room. And Moretz continues to be one of the most interesting young actresses coming up, so this is one definitely to keep an eye on as it comes together.