After earning the attention of the Academy with his first two features, “Capote” and “Moneyball,” you wouldn’t bet against Bennett Miller’s next feature “Foxcatcher” being in line for more awards when it surfaces, especially given the cast that he’s beginning to line up. Already on board are Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum, and they’ll now be joined by '80s icon Anthony Michael Hall in hoping that Bennett Miller can "do a Jonah Hill" for his career too.
The film is based on the true story of paranoid schizophrenic John du Pont (Carell) who was the heir to the du Pont chemical fortune, and built a wrestling training facility (called Team Foxcatcher) on his Pennsylvania estate. Du Pont befriended the Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) who repeatedly tried to help du Pont with his illness before du Pont shot and killed him in 1996. Tatum’s playing Ruffalo’s brother, Sienna Miller’s playing his wife, while Hall will now take on the role of Carell’s assistant.
Since cementing his place in movie history with performances in “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Weird Science,” Hall has never really got anywhere near the heights of his '80s stardom. It probably didn’t help that his face became ruggedly handsome and almost indistinguishable from the geeky face people remembered. In the last decade he’ll be best known for the TV series “The Dead Zone” and a small role in “The Dark Knight” – and he must be hoping that he’s just signed on to a future Oscar winner. [Variety]