AnnaSophia Robb Leads 'Jack of the Red Hearts'; Wendi McLendon-Covey Joins 'Doris'

* AnnaSophia Robb of The Carrie Diaries and Soul Surfer, is joining Famke Janssen (X-Men)  in the indie film Jack of the Red Hearts. Directed by Janet Grillo (Fly Away), the story follows a teenage con artist who tricks a desperate mother into hiring her as a live-in companion for her autistic daughter. Filming is underway now in New York.

* A whole host of TV actors have come aboard Michael Showalter's (The Baxter) new indie comedy, Hello, My Name Is Doris.  Wendi McLendon-Covey (Think Like A Man Too, The Goldbergs), Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black),  Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and Kyle Mooney (SNL) have joined the previously-cast Max Greenfield and Sally Field. Also featuring Beth Behrs of 2 Broke Girls and Mad Men's Michael Sommer, the story follows an older woman who is encouraged by a self-help guru to pursue a much younger man, who introduces her to the local hipster scene. 

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Emma Roberts and AnnaSophia Robb to star in Anything But Ordinary

Ever heard of synesthesia? It's an extremely rare neurological condition in which a stimulation of one particular sense triggers an automatic response in another sensory pathway. So in one version of it, words and numbers can only be processed through sounds and vibrant colors. Awesome, right? A number of famous people are said to have been synesthetes, including inventor Nicola Tesla, musician Duke Ellington, and Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett. Sounds like somebody could make a pretty cool, inventive movie about synesthesia, right? Well somebody is, and it's going to feature the considerable talents of Emma Roberts(It's Kind of a Funny Story) and AnnaSophia Robb(Soul Surfer).

The film is called Anything But Ordinary, and is being prepped at the same time as Lara Avary's upcoming book. The story centers on a 17-year old diving phenom, who suffers a terrible accident during the Olympic trials, putting her into a coma. When she miraculously awakes five years later, nobody realizes that she has become a synesthete, processing words and numbers through color, the third dimension, and sound.

This sounds like a film that will demand a creative visual director, so it's a little disheartening to learn that Sanaa Hamri(Something New, Just Wright) is at the helm. There's cause for concern on the writing front as well, with Charlie Craig(Pretty Little Liars) having cranked out the script.

A great idea, but are they sure Michel Gondry(The Science of Sleep) isn't available? Just asking. [THR]

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