Anyone remember the 2009 sci-fi family-friendly “City Of Ember” starring, among others, Saoirse Ronan and Bill Murray? We barely do either but that film was the sophomore directorial effort of Gil Kenan that somewhat halted his career after 2006’s animated flick “Monster House.”
More recently, Kenan was attached to helm “Green Lantern” and even touched up the script (what remained of it in the movie you saw, we’re not sure) but after the abysmal box office takings of ‘Ember,’ Kenan found himself on the outs. It looks like the young helmer may be on the road to recovery though, with Shia LaBeouf now set to star in his next effort behind the camera, a quirky love story tentatively titled “A Giant.”
Penned by Kenan himself, the story will center on a broke girl running from a series of bad relationships, who moves back home to reconnect with her brother only to form a relationship with a 20-foot-tall man-child who lives next door (LaBeouf). No word on how the fantastical sounding tale will come to life but with the Jim Henson Co. and French VFX shingle BUF working in conjuction with Lava Bear Films, we’re presuming there will be some digital wizardry involved.
On paper at least, it looks like Kenan has managed to pull quite the coup in recruiting LaBeouf, with the young actor set to be seen in John Hillcoat‘s “The Wettest County In The World” and the currently lensing Robert Redford-directed “The Company You Keep.” It remains to be seen if/when the production will make headway but with former Universal chairman David Linde part of the brainstrust at Lava Bear, it been reported that the film ending up there is a “strong possiblity.” Let’s just hope LaBeouf’s face recovers before they start filming…
