As most movies — and sometimes real life — will tell you, love is all about timing. Those infinitesimal choices we make that lead us to running into someone we’ll spend the rest of our life or just one night. And sometimes, the timing is just off. You’re got a job in another city, or they’re graduating and moving back home. Cupid can be a total asshole sometimes, but even he wouldn’t be this cruel.
Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are set to find out what happens when love happens as the world comes to an end in “Seeking A Friend For The End of The World” and no, it’s not a drama, it’s a romantic comedy. Written by Lorene Scafaria (“Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist“) — who will also be making her directorial debut – the story takes place “at a time when mankind is forced to absorb the fact that an incoming asteroid will end humanity. Carell plays a man suddenly alone when his wife leaves in a panic. His high school sweetheart writes him saying she wants to be with him when the world stops. His neighbor (Knightley) accompanies him on the road trip as love blooms at the worst possible time.”
It’s a weird balance of tones — a romance and a comedy with a apocalyptic ending — so it will be interesting to see how this bears out. But this writer thought ‘Nick & Norah’ was fairly underrated, and Carell and Knightley are both solid thesps who know how to navigate tricky material so we’re optimistic.
The film marks yet another impressive post-“The Office” project for Carell who is also gearing up to star opposite Meryl Streep later this year in “Great Hope Springs.” Meanwhile, Knightley knock out this film and then re-team with Joe Wright in the fall for “Anna Karenina.” The film will get in front of cameras in May and while no release date is set, if the filmmakers use the Mayan calendar as a guide, they might want to get this out there next year if they want people to see it. Just sayin’. [Deadline]
