It’s been five years since 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine” and while directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have had several projects in development, earlier this year it was finally revealed the duo were pushing forward with “He Loves Me.” Written by actress Zoe Kazan who will co-star in the picture with her real-life boyfriend Paul Dano, the project is a meta-strange sounding road-trip film that centers on a young novelist who achieves success early in his career but begins to face struggles. It has been described as a blend of “Adaptation” and “Weird Science,” as the young protagonist follows the advice of writing the woman he thinks will love him in a bid to overcome his writer’s block. Here’s the strange part, through this odd exercise he ends up willing her into existence.
Sounds fascinating and certainly ambitious, but considering “Little Miss Sunshine” was a smash $100 million hit, it’s no surprise that Fox Searchlight is once again back in the fold. According to Deadline, the film is now primed to start shooting in July, and moreover Jeff Bridges is being sought for an unknown role. We’d guess his participation will depend on his promotional schedule for his debut album which will be released by Blue Note in August. The actor also has the big budget “The Seventh Son” with Julianne Moore, Sam Clafin and Alicia Vikander on the horizon but that is slated to shoot later in the year and shouldn’t conflict with “He Loves Me.”
We’re glad Dayton/Faris are back and excited they are tackling some truly original material. “He Loves Me” looks to be coming out of the gate with some impressive talent and there’s more surely to come as the film heads into production.
