If there is one man who knows how to unclog the tap of emotions with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer it’s Gabriele Muccino. The filmmaker paired with Will Smith for a pair of heart-tuggers, “The Pursuit Of Happyness” and “Seven Pounds,” and last year delivered the Gerard Butler soccer dramedy “Playing For Keeps,” that we’ve all politely ejected from our minds. His next gig finds him back in the saddle with a high-profile actor, for another movie that will have you reaching for the Kleenex.
Russell Crowe will star in “Fathers And Daughters,” with Muccino to direct the Black List script by Brad Desch. The time-spanning tale will follow a novelist and widow in the past, who struggles to raise his 5 year-old daughter while he battles mental illness. The movie will also catch up 30 years later with daughter, now in the present day, as she tries to reconcile with the difficult childhood. Cue the waterworks.
No word yet on if/when this will shoot, and it will likely depend on how buyers and financial types take to the project when it rolls into the American Film Market next month. [Variety]