Although Hugh Jackman will soon say goodbye to Wolverine with X-Men: Apocalypse and James Mangold‘s upcoming Wolverine sequel, in the process of putting away the claws the actor has to give away some other roles in the meantime. That would include the lead role in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon‘s much talked-about Me & Earl & the Dying Girl follow-up Collateral Beauty, also starring Rooney Mara.
It was only last month when the Aussie actor signed onto the project, but time commitments apparently won’t let Jackman play the role when production begins this fall. Producers don’t seem too discouraged, though, for they’ve taken their efforts towards bagging another big-name star: Johnny Depp.
Even if the Mortdecai‘s star seems to be fading these days, Depp does have the buzzed Black Mass coming up, in addition to another Pirates of the Caribbean sequel set for release in two years time. So don’t rule out a comeback, and an indie such as Collateral Beauty most certainly looks to be a great way to get the actor into a groove that doesn’t require funny make-up/hair or odd mannerisms (though he does have Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass on the horizon). Plus, Gomez-Rejon’s quirk comes from his style, not his over-exaggerated characters. So this may just be a perfect fit.
Collateral Beauty tells the story of a recently-depressed New York advertising executive befallen by a personal tragedy who undergoes an unconventional plan from his colleagues to get him out of his slump, though through a means they weren’t necessarily expecting. Depp would play the executive if he were roped in, of course, and Jason Segel is reportedly attached as well.
At the time, however, it’s not clear whom exactly Mara or Segel play in the movie. The latter is likely one of the aforementioned colleagues, but Mara? She may be a fellow colleague, a romantic love interest or something completely different altogether. It’s hard to tell from such a vague description.
Coming from a screenplay by producer Allan Loeb, who hasn’t quite had a great film to his name yet between putting his name on everything from mediocre efforts (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Dilemma, Rock of Ages, 21) to pretty bad ones (Here Comes the Boom, Just Go With It) to some I missed but didn’t necessarily look promising (The Switch, So Undercover), it’s hard to necessarily get completely excited. But based on the impressive cast scored thus far, not to mention this being Gomez-Rejon’s followup after his stellar contribution to the screen this year, there must certainly be something good in store here. [Deadline]
