Tom Hanks to Star in James Ponsoldt's Cyber-Thriller 'The Circle'

It's appropriate that just as Sundance is around the corner, a director who has built his career at the festival is announcing a brand new project. James Ponsoldt, director of Smashed and The Spectacular Now, is about to paint on a much larger canvas by adapting Dave Eggers' latest book, The Circle, with Tom Hanks on board to star.

Hanks is already on board to star in Tom Tykwer's adaptation A Hologram for the King, another novel by Eggers.  The Circle will be written and directed by Ponsoldt, and here's the synopsis:

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

Eggers has always been good at crafting stories that reflect our current society (Away We Go, Promised Land) and The Circle fits in perfectly. Hanks will also produce, becoming part of the overall package that will be up for grabs in Hollywood tomorrow. Hopefully this doesn't completely derail Ponsoldt's Hillary Clinton film, Rodham, which still has yet to cast its lead.  His next film, The End of the Tour, will debut next month at Sundance starring Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel.

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Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg to Lead James Ponsoldt's 'The End of the Tour'

After a pair of alcoholism dramas in Smashed and The Spectacular Now, James Ponsoldt is moving in a different direction. He's still attempting to find someone to play Hillary Clinton in Rodham, a biopic targeted for the presidential elections, and now he's planning to another true-life account, that of late author David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour. And the project is off to a good start with Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg taking the lead roles.

Segel will play Wallace, the Infinite Jest author who committed suicide in 2008, while Eisenberg is Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky. Donald Marguiles will adapt Lipsky's book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, which comprises a number of interviews he conducted with Wallace while on a 5-day road trip during the Infinite Jest book tour. Professional competition and jealousy bubbles up between the two as they discuss the pros and cons of celebrity.

While there are definitely some humorous moments between the quarreling duo, which Segel and Eisenberg should have no problem recreating, it'll be interesting to see how Segel tackles the dramatic elements. He's shown flashes of being a more well-rounded actor recently but he's never taken on something quite like this. Thankfully this won't disrupt the Rodham schedule any as The End of the Tour should begin filming next February. [TheWrap]

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Review: 'The Spectacular Now' Starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller

 NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Sundance Film Festival.

There's a very real danger in simply living in the moment. While it may sound exciting and adventurous, it also invites complacency and stagnation, a dangerous cocktail made more lethal when alcohol is thrown into the mix. While this may sound like a proper lead-in for director James Ponsoldt's previous Sundance hit, Smashed, it serves equally well for his wonderful coming of age story, The Spectacular Now.

Teen romances are a dime a dozen, but it's rare to find one that has so much meaning and isn't just an excuse to pair up two beautiful people. The film deals believably and honestly with teen anxieties about the future, while also exploring the familial impact of addiction. If that sounds like potentially weighty stuff, that's because it is. Emotions run high from the very beginning and never let up even for a moment, from the joys of first love to painful examinations of one's self worth. Aided by tremendous performances by Miles Teller and Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley, we may be looking at one of the year's first truly great films.

Before it gets to all that, the story may look and feel quite familiar. Sutter Keely(Teller) has everything that a high school senior could want. He's popular, forming the elite power couple with his girlfriend Cassidy(Brie Larson), and is always the life of the party. He's also a functioning alcoholic, taking quick sips from his flask at all hours of the day. As the school year begins to draw to a close, thoughts turn to the future. Cassidy, wanting more for herself than just a fun time, dumps him suddenly. Dealing with it the only way he knows how, Sutter drinks himself into a stupor, waking up on the lawn of Aimee Finicky(Woodley), an average and mostly invisible girl from school.

Aimee is a beauty, but doesn't have the confidence in herself for others to see it. On the other hand, Sutter is the complete opposite. A completely charismatic figure with no fear of anything, the two begin a relationship that quickly blossoms into something more. Ponsoldt captures their budding love sweetly and without pretension. The two are a perfect mix on the surface. He emboldens her to stand up for herself and live a little, while she keeps him grounded enough to prevent a total meltdown. Through one another, they learn to deal with their various family issues with strength. Both come from broken homes, albeit via different means, and the added responsibility from such an arrangement has impacted them both. Most telling is the disappearance of Sutter's father (Kyle Chandler), who left the family under bad circumstances years earlier, leaving his mother(Jennifer Jason Leigh) to fend for herself. Sutter carries hopes that his father will someday enter back into his life, despite his family, including his sister(Mary Elizabeth Winstead) hoping for the complete opposite.

The film smashes all genre clichés with its authentic portrayal of the two lead characters. It's always a trap of teen romances to turn it into yet another version of She's All That, with a quick make-over and a cool new boyfriend changing the female's life forever. It's not that simple here, and Woodley captures Aimee's shyness and vulnerability without pushing it on us. While she was excellent in The Descendants and deserving of the acclaim she received, this is a role that requires more maturity and nuance, and the results may again see her in awards company. Teller, who gave as good as he got opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, is no less extraordinary as a guy trying to mask his insecurities under a shield of jokes and liquid courage.

Movies like this tend to do great business at festivals, but don't always measure up after general audiences get done with them. Although writers Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter know a thing or two about turning teen romance into a critical and box office powerhouse, having written the whimsical (500) Days of Summer a few years ago. Much like that film, The Spectacular Nowisn't satisfied with giving us the same old fluff, it aims for something deeper and lands a direct hit.

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Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller Kiss In New Clip from 'The Spectacular Now'

Want to know what pissed me off the most during Comic-Con? Well, besides getting bumped into by a thousand guys all wearing the same Thor costume (was it the same dude, maybe?), what really bugged me was that during the entire Divergent panel nobody bothered to ask Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller about the first time they worked together, on the extraordinary teen drama, The Spectacular Now. Maybe it's not a film that would normally appeal to the geek fanbase, but I guarantee it blows away anything that was on display in Hall H that day.

After releasing the first trailer recently, we now have director James Ponsoldt's favorite clip from the film. Teller stars as Sutter Keely, the "life of the party" and an alcoholic who prefers to live in the moment, while Woodley is the quietly beautiful but introverted Aimee Finicky. The two turn out to be a perfect balance for one another, and in this scene we see them share their very first kiss. From the continuous take to the natural, authentic dialogue, everything about this scene works. Woodley and Teller shared the Sundance award for acting based on their performances, and frankly this is such a perfect representation of the film that they don't really need to show us any more.

If it's not obvious by now, The Spectacular Now is my favorite movie of the year up to this point. You can check out my review from Sundance here, and then set a date to check it out for yourself on August 2nd.

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First Trailer for 'The Spectacular Now' Starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley

The Spectacular Now is a film with no shortage of talent having the finest moment of their careers. James Ponsoldt made his debut last year with the alcoholism drama, Smashed, and is currently developing a Hillary Clinton biopic. Stars Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller are the toast of young Hollywood, both starring in a major YA franchise in Divergent, while she also stars in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel. When The Spectacular Now debuted at Sundance, the judges loved them so much they awarded the two leads a Jury Prize for their performances. All that's left is for the film to win over audiences, and now the first trailer is here to show why it may have a pretty good shot.

Written by the guys who gave us (500) Days of Summer, the film centers on the relationship between Sutter Keely (Teller) and Aimee (Woodley). He's a party guy and functioning alcoholic, while she's a brainy introvert who completely falls for the charismatic but troubled Sutter. He's a guy who lives solely for the moment, with no concern for the future, and it's up to her to bring him back down to Earth, but it proves more difficult than she thought.

It's a tour de force performance for both Woodley and Teller, and Ponsoldt is at the top of his game in presenting an achingly real portrayal of two broken people finding salvation in one another. In my review I said it "isn't satisfied with giving us the same old fluff, it aims for something deeper and lands a direct hit". Y'know what? I continue to agree with myself on that. This is one of the must-see movies of the year, folks, so set a date for The Spectacular Now on August 2nd.

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James Ponsoldt to direct adaptation of Matthew Quick's next novel; adapting musical 'Pippin'

Let's just say that James Ponsoldt is having a moment. It may have taken a few years after his debut feature for him to really make an impact, but when he did it was with the terrific alcoholism drama, Smashed. His follow-up, The Spectacular Now, premiered recently at Sundance (review here) and sold for a hefty sum after rave reviews for him and stars Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller. A couple of months ago he signed up to bring Pure, the young adult novel by Julianna Baggott, to the big screen. Now he's keeping himself busy by adding two more major projects to his schedule, thanks to a new deal struck with The Weinstein Company.

Ponsoldt will write and direct an adaptation of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, the upcoming novel from Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick. The story centers on a young man on his birthday, who decides that's the time to pack his grandfather's gun, go out and murder his former best friend then commit suicide. Along the way he'll say goodbye to the four people that mean the most to him. Pondsoldt has shown an aptitude for darker material, so he should be right at home.

He'll also pen a big screen take on the honored Broadway musical, Pippin. For those who maybe didn't take theater class in high school and think the story revolves around a hobbit, it actually follows the titular son of King Charlemagne who seeks to find adventure and a place in the world.

So lots for Ponsoldt to do in the next few months. You can check out The Spectacular Now when it opens on August 2nd.  [Deadline]

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Sundance Review: 'The Spectacular Now' starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley

There's a very real danger in simply living in the moment. While it may sound exciting and adventurous, it also invites complacency and stagnation, a dangerous cocktail made more lethal when alcohol is thrown into the mix. While this may sound like a proper lead-in for director James Ponsoldt's previous Sundance hit, Smashed, it serves equally well for his wonderful coming of age story, The Spectacular Now.

Teen romances are a dime a dozen, but it's rare to find one that has so much meaning and isn't just an excuse to pair up two beautiful people. The film deals believably and honestly with teen anxieties about the future, while also exploring the familial impact of addiction. If that sounds like potentially weighty stuff, that's because it is. Emotions run high from the very beginning and never let up even for a moment, from the joys of first love to painful examinations of one's self worth. Aided by tremendous performances by Miles Teller and Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley, we may be looking at one of the year's first truly great films.



Before it gets to all that, the story may look and feel quite familiar. Sutter Keely(Teller) has everything that a high school senior could want. He's popular, forming the elite power couple with his girlfriend Cassidy(Brie Larson), and is always the life of the party. He's also a functioning alcoholic, taking quick sips from his flask at all hours of the day. As the school year begins to draw to a close, thoughts turn to the future. Cassidy, wanting more for herself than just a fun time, dumps him suddenly. Dealing with it the only way he knows how, Sutter drinks himself into a stupor, waking up on the lawn of Aimee Finicky(Woodley), an average and mostly invisible girl from school.

Aimee is a beauty, but doesn't have the confidence in herself for others to see it. On the other hand, Sutter is the complete opposite. A completely charismatic figure with no fear of anything, the two begin a relationship that quickly blossoms into something more. Ponsoldt captures their budding love sweetly and without pretension. The two are a perfect mix on the surface. He emboldens her to stand up for herself and live a little, while she keeps him grounded enough to prevent a total meltdown. Through one another, they learn to deal with their various family issues with strength. Both come from broken homes, albeit via different means, and the added responsibility from such an arrangement has impacted them both. Most telling is the disappearance of Sutter's father (Kyle Chandler), who left the family under bad circumstances years earlier, leaving his mother(Jennifer Jason Leigh) to fend for herself. Sutter carries hopes that his father will someday enter back into his life, despite his family, including his sister(Mary Elizabeth Winstead) hoping for the complete opposite.



The film smashes all genre cliches with its authentic portrayal of the two lead characters. It's always a trap of teen romances to turn it into yet another version of She's All That, with a quick make-over and a cool new boyfriend changing the female's life forever. It's not that simple here, and Woodley captures Aimee's shyness and vulnerability without pushing it on us. While she was excellent in The Descendants and deserving of the acclaim she received, this is a role that requires more maturity and nuance, and the results may again see her in awards company. Teller, who gave as good as he got opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, is no less extraordinary as a guy trying to mask his insecurities under a shield of jokes and liquid courage.

Movies like this tend to do great business at festivals, but don't always measure up after general audiences get done with them. Although writers Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter know a thing or two about turning teen romance into a critical and box office powerhouse, having written the whimsical (500) Days of Summer a few years ago. Much like that film, The Spectacular Now isn't satisfied with giving us the same old fluff, it aims for something deeper and lands a direct hit.

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Sure Shots: James Franco; Paul Dano; James Ponsoldt

* James Franco has a couple of....ummm, "controversial" films playing at Sundance over the next few days, Kink and Interior. Leather Bar. Franco perhaps more than any other has found a perfect balance between the experimental and the stuff that fills his bank account, but the next project he just lined up falls somewhere in between. Franco will direct and star in Beautiful People, a biopic on 1960s Hollywood hairstylist, Jay Sebring. Sebring was tragically murdered, along with Sharon Tate and others, by Charles Manson's followers. So add this to Franco's lengthy slate of upcoming projects, which includes Oz the Great and Powerful, and directing Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. [Deadline]


* How long will it be before we see Paul Dano (There Must Be Blood, Ruby Sparks) up on that stage accepting an Academy Award? He's been great in practically everything for a few years, and his time may finally be coming. He's set to play the young version of Beach Boys lead Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy, the long-developing film written by Oren Moverman(The Messenger). Directed by Bill Pohlad, the story will cover his rise to fame alongside the legendary band, as well as the mental health problems that nearly destroyed him. They've obtained the complete life rights from Wilson himself, so expect a pretty thorough examination. An actor to play the older version of Wilson is still being sought. As if all that wasn't enough, Atticus Ross(The Social Network) will provide the music. [THR]



* It's clear that James Ponsoldt loves the Sundance Film Festival, and the festival loves him back. He made his big splash last year directing the alcoholism drama, Smashed, and is back this year with the teen romance The Spectacular Now. For his next project, he'll write and direct an adaptation of Pure, the YA novel by Julianna Baggot. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is divided into two societies: the Pures who live healthy and untouched under The Dome; and the Wretches who exist outside of it scratching to survive amongst the ruins. The first of a planned trilogy, expect this one to be next on Ponsoldt's list.

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Trailer for alcoholism drama 'Smashed' with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul

One of the more prominent early year festival films set to make waves this season is Smashed, which stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul as a couple whose relationship begins to fracture when one decides to go sober. The film proved to be a big hit out of Sundance, and a promising debut for director James Ponsoldt, but the bulk of the attention has focused on the two stars.

A new trailer has been released as the film prepares for a theatrical run next month, and it looks like powerful, tragic stuff with just a hint of bleak comedy. Winstead's always played lighter roles, and it's that perkiness she's shown in the past that adds a heavy texture to her performance here where she's required to plumb darker emotional corners. Paul looks great, as well, and we could be looking at one of the breakout movies of the fall.

Smashed co-stars Megan Mullally, Octavia Spencer, and Nick Offerman, and hits theaters on October 12th....

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Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kyle Chandler set for 'The Spectacular Now'

A fantastic talent who is often wasted in substandard movies, Mary Elizabeth Winstead got a chance to show just how good she can be earlier this year in the Sundance festival hit, Smashed. The alcoholism drama won her the attention movies like The Thing and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter didn't, and now she's about to reteam with its director, James Pondsoldt, for film that has just as much positive buzz swirling around it.

Winstead, along with fan fave Kyle Chandler(Super 8), Andre Royo(Red Tails) and Bob Odenkirk(Let's Go to Prison) have joined the cast of The Spectacular Now, based on Tim Tharp's novel. Already sporting The Descendants stand out Shailene Woodley, along with Brie Larson and Miles Teller, the film follows Sutter Keely, a fast living alcoholic high school senior who takes a social outcast named Aimee under his wing in hopes of reforming her. In true She's All That form, it'll be him who has his life changed instead. Winstead will play Aimee's sister, while Chandler is her father.

Production has already begun, so hopefully we'll get a chance to see this by next year's Sundance. [Variety]


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Brie Larson and Miles Teller join Shailene Woodley in 'The Spectacular Now'

James Ponsoldt scored one of the biggest hits of this year's Sundance Film Festival with his Jury Prize nominated drama, Smashed, which featured Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul as an alcoholic married couple. Although he's been around for awhile(his directorial debut hit Sundance in 2006), Smashed marked him as a filmmaker with a rare voice and a talent to watch in the future. His next film, the teen comedy The Spectacular Now, already has The Descendants standout Shailene Woodley as one of the female leads. Now he's adding two more fast rising stars to the cast.

Brie Larson and Miles Teller are the latest to join the Shawn Levy-produced film, solidifying that the cast for this is going to be top notch all around. Teller will play Sutter Keely, a high school senior and hard partying alcoholic, who passes out on the front lawn belonging to Aimee(Woodley), a social outcast. After meeting her, he decides to embark on a social experiment by dating Aimee and making over her life. Instead, it's her who ends up having the greater impact on him. Larson will play a girl named Cassidy, who I'm assuming is a pretty and popular girl around school. Yeah, it sounds a lot like She's All That, but fortunately Freddie Prinze Jr. is nowhere in sight.

Larson is a personal favorite of mine so it's been great the last few months really watching her emerge as a quality supporting player in some major flicks like 21 Jump Street and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Teller has rocketed to stardom faster than any young actor I've seen ages, making his screen debut opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole. As good as he was there holding his own against an Oscar winner, it was his hilarious turn in the Footloose remake that won me over. Poking fun at his pseudo-celebrity by playing himself in Project X was a weird move, but it proves the guy doesn't take this stuff too seriously. [Deadline]

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